Pokemon Colosseum: Union of Souls
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: Seth is gathering funds for the greatest mission in his career, proposal to Rui. But with her parents doing everything possible to stop him, and a strange businessman kidnapping influential girls to acquire power, can Seth save Rui and pop the question?
1. Chapter 1

Ch 1

He was in trouble.

She could tell from the way he scowled at the field, fists clenched as he crouched to study the battle before him. It wasn't the usual glare of determination, that glare that showed her he was completely in control of the situation. There was a tightening around his eyes that was responding to a surge of pain. Not for himself, but for the poor Pokémon on the field before him.

Seth was in trouble.

Rui gripped her ticket tightly, watching him from her seat in the Under Colosseum as the Snagger called out a new set of commands for his team, trying to salvage what he could of the disastrous battle. It hadn't started well at all; not only were the types against him, but the opposing trainer was using TM moves not native to Orre, so Seth had little hope of countering them with what attacks Jupiter the Espeon and Pluto the Umbreon had in their repertoire. Hence, the trouble.

She shut her eyes, waiting for it to come and dreading it all the while. There it was, that crackle of energy being gathered, then suddenly the whole Colosseum was shaking as Pluto cried out in horror, then fell silent. Jupiter howled in a fury, but he was silenced almost as quickly with a blast of wind that sent him tumbling head over tail in Rui's mind. She opened her eyes slowly, cringing at the dust that settled to reveal the twin Eons sprawled unconscious on the field and Seth glaring almost hatefully at the Primeape and Scyther standing on the other side.

The buzzer sounded and Seth dug into a pocket, counted out a few bills, then held them out silently to the winner of the match. The trainer collected the prize money, thanked him and headed off to rest before the next round. Seth stalked off the field after recalling the twins.

"Poor guy." Rui murmured and hurried to join him in the green room.

She found him with his back to the wall in a corner of the waiting room, an angry scowl on his face that lessened only a bit when he spotted her walking towards him. Rui sat by him and listened to him exhale in frustration.

"I hate Kanto Pokémon! They _always_ have at least one trick hiding up their sleeves!" he growled irritably, arms folded over his chest in annoyance. "How am I supposed to earn a living if they keep coming over here and wiping out Orre's trainers left and right before I can get to them first?!" He pulled his wallet free and opened it up, counting the colorful bills within. "Great, I lost money on this one." the Snagger grumbled and clapped it closed, shoving the battered piece of leather back into his coat pocket. Rui squirmed under his arm and rested against him, listening to his heartbeat as it pounded from the turmoil of emotions.

"It's okay, Seth." she murmured, "If you need money..."

"I'm not going to leech off of you or your parents." Seth muttered under his breath, "I have my dignity, you know." Rui frowned and poked at him.

"You won't be leeching!" she retorted, "You'll just be borrowing a little bit of funds until the Kanto trainers head back for their Indigo League Challenge." Seth huffed at that.

"Which won't be for another four months. At this rate, I may as well start looking for easy targets to pick up some cash from." he muttered and yelped when Rui pinched him, "Ow!"

"You're not gonna steal anything from anyone!" she ordered, "Captain Sherles will throw you in jail for it and he won't go easy just 'cause he likes you!" Rui got up and motioned him to stand as well. "Under Colosseum is too crowded. Why don't we go to Phenac and cool off for a while?" she suggested. Seth sighed and stood with her.

"May as well. If I stay here much longer, I'll get tempted back into the battles, and I don't have much money left to lose." he relented and led the way out of the Colosseum.

* * *

Rui wasn't sure what brought on the sudden quest for money. Seth never really bothered with funds unless he was running low on personal supplies; food, water, Pokémon supplies, and the like. It had been four months since the final battle with Evice to rescue Wes and recover Seth, Wes having finally passed on to his eternal rest after helping defeat his insane father's plots, and it was only in the recent few weeks that the Snagger was making a mad dash for collecting funds. The toll it was taking on him and his Pokémon was alarming. Rui caught him once or twice during her visits to the Orre desert actually poking around the trash bins behind some restaurants. He claimed he was searching for lost items that could be gathered and recycled, but on a hunch Rui took him to a nearby cafeteria and watched, horrified, at his and the Eons' frantic gobbling of lunch. 

Recycling; yeah, right. He'd been looking for a meal back there. Rui sighed from her seat in the sidecar of the speeder bike. It was worrisome; what was Seth trying to save money for that was so important, he would willingly go without food? And the twins, Jupiter and Pluto, were looking a little scrawny, not at all as sleek and healthy as they used to be. They caved a little more easily in battle and Seth...

Being a Pokémon himself, Seth often had to eat a lot more than normal to maintain the power of Raykyoudon. After all, as the Weather's Master, he had a duty to restore Orre's original lushness. But without food, without water, the Snagger collapsed more often in his work. Rui glanced up at him in concern. He seemed all right now, his visor down over his eyes as he kept his gaze on the desert before him, but there was always the danger that he would just suddenly wilt and send everything he was doing to hell. Like... now...!

"Look out!" Rui screamed, covering her head as Seth suddenly fell aside, dragging the speeder down with him. It skidded and spun out of control, the exhausts sputtering fire and sand as the redhead was thrown from the sidecar into the hot dunes. The speeder tumbled end over end and finally came to a rest, sputtering once, then dying as Seth followed roughly the same route, rolling along for a short distance before stopping short of the bike. Rui gingerly picked herself up after a few minutes, spitting sand and grit out as she checked herself for injury. Save for some bruises and cuts that she'd need to have cleaned soon, she was whole.

Seth managed to escape brutal damage, despite having been under the two-ton machine when he lost control and it began to roll. He lay sprawled and only began getting to his feet when he'd decided the uncertainty of Rui's condition surpassed the pain of the multiple bruises he collected. He seemed almost frail as he looked around, then spotted Rui walking towards him, his face pale.

"Rui! Are you okay? Is anything broken? Are you hurt?" he fired his questions, limping quickly towards her. She nodded, a smudge of grease on one cheek. Seth breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Ho-oh's fire, I'm sorry, really. I don't know what happened-."

"Didn't you eat anything today?" Rui interrupted with a frown, "I thought you said you had something to eat." Seth blinked at her, then sighed and hung his head almost ashamedly.

"You asked the twins, Rui." he murmured softly. Rui stared at him blankly, then blinked in realization. Before the awful match in Under Colosseum, she had been petting the Eons for a boost of confidence.

"Did you guys eat?" she had chirped brightly and Seth, in his usual bluntness, had answered, "Sure." She had forgotten that he would twist her words and his own to create the illusion of a response she wanted; it was something the Snagger often did and it annoyed her endlessly.

"You should have said something sooner!" Rui demanded, "I would have bought you a lunch!" The Snagger lifted his head and spread his hands helplessly.

"I wouldn't have any way of paying you back." he answered quietly and moved to reorient the speeder, checking it for damage as well. Rui growled irritably and shook her head.

"Seth, I don't expect you to pay me back for a lunch. I'm offering it to you as your girlfriend!" she scolded, "Come on! You don't have to starve yourself just to avoid borrowing money from people who love you!" The Snagger finished his check of the speeder and looked back at her tiredly. "If you're saving up to pay something off, why not tell me what it is? I could probably help you." she added gently.

"The people of Zirconia City are wealthy, aren't they?" Seth asked. Rui nodded uncertainly. "Then I can't borrow money. It sends too many signals I don't want people judging me by." he finally said, "I hate being judged based on things I can't control. I hate being judged because I'm a Snagger and a thief. Let me do this on my own." He climbed back onto the speeder and Rui hurried back into the sidecar.

"But if you keep this up, won't you lose strength as Raykyoudon?" she pressed, "You have to keep up your strength to maintain your powers!" The Snagger just shook his head and started the engine again. Defeated by the loud blast of the speeder's exhaust pipes, Rui sat back in frustration. What was he up to that demanded so much money and sacrifice?

* * *

Phenac's reputation as the Opulent City of Water was renowned in Orre and well-deserved. Checking into a hotel, Rui and Seth discovered a new attraction that was helping business boom in the city. Man-made hot springs were the latest fashion and the hot stones of Orre were perfect for creating several of the luxurious pools in Phenac. Rui was clapping her hands happily at the idea, Seth looked at it askance. 

"What's the big deal? It's hot water. You can't really do much with hot water in a desert but wait for it to cool so you can drink it." he muttered. Rui laughed and shook her head at his words. "What?"

"No, no, it's therapeutic and relaxing! It'll do wonders for all those bruises we picked up!" she told him, "I love hot springs! Ms. Paterson on Emerald Lane in Zirconia had one installed a few years ago and she invites my family over for hot spring parties every month! They're sooo good!" She regretted telling the Snagger of it almost immediately, as he took on a strangely hopeless expression and tossed up his hands.

"Ho-oh's fire, it gets worse!" he breathed helplessly and turned to leave the hotel, "I'm going out to the shops. I'll be back whenever." Rui stared after him in confusion, then sighed. Whatever he was doing must involve a lot of money, or maybe he just couldn't stand hearing about Zirconia?

The stress of the day began to melt away when she entered the spring. Rui lounged in the water, towel wrapped around her body and hair as she soaked up the warmth. The bruises weren't as bad as they had felt, the purples and blues mottled her arms and legs mostly, as she had let them take the brunt of the fall rather than her body. She relaxed and reflected on the problems involving her Snagger boyfriend.

It definitely had to be a money problem. Seth was far too intense in Colosseum battles, almost desperate to win every match he entered, for it to be anything else. And his trips to Zirconia to pick her up for her visits to Agate were always accompanied with a sense of anxiety. He could hardly wait to leave the place the moment he arrived. She could remember an instance, back when he was fully confident and satisfied with himself and his life, where he had spoken quietly with her parents while she busied herself with retrieving her scrunchie from their pet Meowth. Out of the corner of her eye, Rui could see him motioning to himself, almost stumbling over words, then finally step back with a barely controlled shock. He was never the same after that.

Was that it?

Rui sat up in the hot spring, a frown coming over her face as she thought over that last bit of memory. Had something her parents said to Seth brought on that sudden change in him? This sudden desire to collect more money than Seth ever cared to have on hand?

Determined to find out, Rui exited the bath and headed for her room, throwing on a bathrobe for the sake of modesty. Surely the Snagger had returned by now. The door to their room was ajar and she put her hand out to push it open, pausing at the sound of his voice and the tinkling of bottles.

"Okay, if we play it right, we can get by on this. I had to sell off quite a bit of our items." Seth sighed. Rui peered through the crack and watched him talk with the twin Eons. He reached out and rubbed their heads. "If you guys get hit with a status effect in battle, do you think you can hold on until I get you to a center? We have to save our restoring items for those long-haul battles." he murmured. The twins whimpered and nuzzled his hands. Seth sighed again. "I know. But we have just a little more to go. Then I can check one item off my list. That brings us one step closer to Rui." he told the Eons and pulled his Poké Block Case free. "Here you go, guys! Treats for being there for me!" he added cheerfully and flicked them each a block.

Rui frowned and pushed open the door, startling the Snagger inside the room.

"Okay, what is this all about?" she demanded, ignoring his stunned expression, "What are you trying to get that brings you any closer to me? You're already close to me! We date, don't we?"

"By the fires of Ho-oh, put some clothes on!" the Snagger exclaimed in shock, "How do expect me to think straight when you're practically _naked_ in front of me?"

"My parents said something to you four weeks ago, didn't they?" she accused, "What did they say that drove you to practically kill yourself gathering money?" Seth folded his arms over his chest, glaring away from her, silent. "Ooh, don't you give me that, Seth Evice!" Rui growled, "Come on and tell me! Why are you so desperate for money?"

"Don't call me 'Evice'." Seth muttered, "And that's my business. I'll tell you when I'm ready, but not before." He shut his eyes as a deep blush came across his cheeks, "Now will you **please** get dressed?"


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

There was no doubt that Phenac was struggling to grow, but limited water was hampering the expansions. The new mayor of the city often counted on Seth's help in digging to the reservoirs buried deep below the desert, and the next day he was back to work on just that. Rui watched worriedly as the Snagger stepped behind a building and crossed his arms over himself, bowing his head as he let the DNA of the super-legendary Pokémon overcome him. She remembered how it looked from a nightmare she once had, equally as tall as the Snagger, with stone-gray skin, dark leathery wings, long tail with a fin and mid-length platinum hair. With a brief covering tied at the waist and the same white strip on its face, Raykyoudon was a marvelous sight to behold. Standing on two raptor-like talons, Raykyoudon emerged from the shadows to look over the new site where the dig had to be made. He could have done the job just as easily as Seth the human, but too many questions would be raised at the idea of a human controlling the earth. This was less suspicious, but equally as mystifying. How did a Snagger manage to capture a legendary no one had ever heard of?

Wings folded, cape-like, and caught together by a pair of claws, he examined the earth carefully, tilting his head to listen for the water coursing underneath.

"You sure you can handle this? I have an extra sandwich if you need it!" Rui called out to him.

"I'll be fine! I might take you up on it later, though." Raykyoudon replied and held out a clawed hand, its three fingers arched delicately over the earth. "Right about here should do it. Tell the workers to get ready to put the pumping station up!" Rui signaled back to the group of men watching them in awe and they scrambled to get their equipment ready. The super-legendary nodded and stepped back, watching the ground break open almost too neatly to be natural. He stepped back forward and peered down into the hole with golden eyes, watching the water that flowed underground. The crewers ran in with the equipment and Raykyoudon took to the air to escape being overrun in the mad dash to tap the reservoir.

"Why do they have to move so fast?" Rui asked in confusion as the Pokémon landed by her side, folding his wings up again.

"To keep the sands of the desert from contaminating it and blocking up the pipes." he remarked and sighed, "I wish I could follow the underground rivers and find a way to bring them to the surface. But until I can fix the earth and climate, any water I put out is just going to evaporate and go to waste." He headed back into the alley and repeated his earlier motions, allowing Raykyoudon to rest as his human self came forward. "Which reminds me, I have to speak with the mayor again about something." he added, limping back to the redhead.

"You're still hurt. Why don't you let me take a look at your leg?" Rui suggested, already digging for her first aid kit in her pack.

"It's all right. Just a bruise and a pulled muscle." Seth told her offhandedly, "But I'll go for that sandwich now." Rui grabbed the lunch and handed it to him, frowning.

"But doesn't it hurt?" she asked as he wolfed down half of it in only a couple of bites. He gave her a flat glare.

"Rui, I've been beaten nearly to unconsciousness for all my life. A pulled muscle is nothing to me." he replied and finished the sandwich. "Let's go." The two of them hurried off towards the mayor's house.

The new mayor was friendly and nice, and passed a background check. Seth never really liked placing people in positions of power without double-checking them from top to bottom. Evice had power over Phenac at the same time he was running Cipher. Luckily, his replacement knew enough to keep Phenac running and not to push too far. Rui had to wait outside as Seth went into the house for his discussion. Curiosity and frustration filled the redhead as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"What is he up to?" she muttered and plucked a Poké Ball from one of her earrings, tossing it forward, "Neptune!" Her own Espeon emerged from within, one of a set of female Eon twins that Seth had snagged long ago, then given her as a gift. "Do me a favor and listen in on what Seth is saying, then draw out what it is he's after." she told the Espeon. Neptune cocked her head in confusion, then shrugged and glowed softly as she used her psychic powers to eavesdrop on the Snagger and mayor. After a few minutes, Neptune stopped her power and began scratching at the dusty earth. Rui knelt and blinked as the Espeon clawed out a crude image of a simple house.

"What is he up to that involves a house? _Why_ does he need a house? He's never been bothered about needing a house before." she murmured and rubbed the Espeon's head affectionately before calling it back and clicking the ball in place on her earring. Seth emerged from the meeting a little happier looking. Rui raised an eyebrow at him. Why would talking about a house make him so happy?

"Let's go out to eat." he remarked suddenly and gave her a hug, "I'm feeling great today!" She blinked in surprise. Whatever was going on, it sure was making Seth act weird.

* * *

Rui caught him later that day, scratching something out on a rumpled piece of paper, and his earlier happiness had worn away some. He had on a look of wary optimism, the Eons at his feet curled up in pleasant sleep after eating their fill of Pokémon food. Rui sipped at her soda, watching him curiously. He shoved the paper into his jacket pocket and looked thoughtful. 

"There's no way around it. I'll have to go to Zirconia City for those last few bits." he sighed and looked over at Rui. "Next time we head for Zirconia, I'm going to have to stay around a while."

"I think we have an extra room for you." Rui remarked and the Snagger sighed again.

"This is going to be harder than taking on Cipher had been." he muttered and frowned. "When exactly are we due back to Zirconia anyway?" Rui pursed her mouth cutely as she thought it over.

"Well, technically, I still have two days of visiting time, and I spent most of the week with Grandma and Grandpa, a couple of days with you... yeah, two days." she murmured and thought harder. If something about her parents in Zirconia triggered this change in Seth, then maybe she could learn more about it if she went back and asked them. "We could go there right now if you want." she suggested brightly. Seth looked at her skeptically.

"Now? Are you sure?" he questioned. Rui nodded. "I didn't think you'd want to leave the desert so quickly." the Snagger sighed almost regretfully, "Okay. Pack up and I'll check us out of the hotel." Rui watched him leave the room in concern. Why was he so easily depressed now?

* * *

Zirconia City was big and beautiful, grander in scope than Phenac itself. White marble dominated the landscape and opulent houses lined the neighborhoods. Huge department stores and hi-tech businesses crowded the downtown area, and dozens of institutions for art, history and science inspired the advanced learning of the region. Seth halted on the edge of the city limits and pulled the speeder up to a large rock formation that he often used to hide the vehicle in. Parking it within the cave, he and Rui collected their possessions then left it. 

"Okay, let me close up." Seth murmured and flicked his hand almost dismissively. A second boulder rolled by and blocked the cave entrance, sealing the speeder away from prying eyes. "Well, let's get you back to your parents." he sighed and they walked into the city.

Rui felt comfortable in Zirconia. The city just seemed so secure and safe and protected. Before meeting Seth, her trips to Agate were always in the company of her parents. The first time she went on her own, she wound up a captive of Cipher. Now her trips out there weren't so lonely.

Friends and people she knew waved to her from the streets, calling out greetings and welcome wishes. Rui waved back happily and felt her heart soar being around places and people she was familiar with. Beaming, she turned to Seth and blinked, her floating feeling rushing out of her in a flash. The Snagger kept his eyes on the ground, teeth clenched tightly as his hands gripped his travel pack almost desperately. Worried, she asked him what was wrong.

"This is a thief's paradise, Rui. You don't know the temptations. I could break into every house here and run off with half these people's wealth, and they would never know until after I'm long gone." he growled, "It's hard, very hard, to keep telling myself not to try. This is why I don't like coming here."

"I'm sorry." Rui murmured and he shook his head.

"It's not your fault. I have to deal with it, but it's hard to fight something that's a part of who you are. Tell me when we reach your house." he muttered, "If I see one more person walk by who's distracted, I don't think I can hold myself back."

Rui's house wasn't as extravagant as the others, but it still smacked of luxury. Seth eyed it apprehensively, then shook his head when he caught himself already scoping out entry points and escape routes. It was habit, but not something he wanted to encourage here. _Especially_ here. Rui ran up to the door and rang the doorbell, then squealed happily as her parents answered it with smiles and hugs.

"I'm home! Seth said he had some stuff to do here, so can he stay with us in one of the guest rooms?" Rui pleaded, "Please, please?" Her father raised an eyebrow at that, watching the Snagger walk up and bow stiffly to them.

"What business does the Snagger of Orre have in Zirconia?" he inquired warily.

"My own and no one else's to know." Seth growled back immediately, then shook his head, "I apologize, but it is my instinct to hide my actions. I am here to continue my search for the terms we discussed." Rui looked at him strangely. Her mother gave a small, disdainful sniff but bustled them all back into the house.

"Come on, come along, I'll have the cook put together a proper dinner. Rui, dear, come tell Mommy all about your trip. How were Beluh and Eagun?" she remarked as she led the girl away. Rui's father stayed behind, watching the Snagger cautiously.

"Still trying to gather the funds, I suppose?" he inquired lightly, "You do realize the futility of it, correct? Rui's life is fated to be here in Zirconia, where she can live the life she deserves." Seth set his bag down and turned a cool gaze back at him.

"I don't intend to give up, Mr. Roane." he returned, "Despite what you think you know about me, I _do_ love her. Somehow, I'll find a way to give her what she needs and deserves."

"A trainer's salary is highly erratic and unreliable. Do you honestly think you can support her chance by chance?" the older man questioned, "I was sure we were clear on what you must have, what _any_ suitor must have, to even approach us with the intent to woo our daughter. A suitable home, a reliable job, ample funds to support her lifestyle, and a proper mode of transportation to give her freedom of movement."

"I **have** a home." Seth bristled.

"The whole of the Orre desert does not constitute as a home!" Roane declared hotly, "I don't want my daughter to live as a vagabond, wandering from cave to cave like an animal!"

"I assure you that she won't experience an _animal's_ life." Seth hissed back, "I can easily construct a palace of sandstone and granite that can outclass the Realgam Tower itself, but I will not subject Orre to the forces that need to be unleashed for it." He simmered for a moment, trying to get his anger under control. "I have a contract from the mayor of Phenac, promising me a good house in the city in exchange for my aid in expanding the growth of Phenac. That should suffice for a home for Rui." he added.

"We'll be the judge of that when we see it." Roane answered and turned to watch Rui and her mother return to the front room. He gave the Snagger a meaningful look. "We'll discuss this more later." he remarked and went to talk with Rui. Mrs. Roane walked up to Seth herself.

"There's a room on the second floor that you can use. Follow that maid to it." she told him, waving her hand towards a woman standing by the stairs, "How long do you plan on being in Zirconia?"

"Just a few days. Honestly, Mrs. Roane, I dislike being in this city as much as you dislike me being here. The sooner I am done and gone, the sooner we **both **can be relieved." Seth answered coolly and collected his bag, following the maid upstairs. Rui watched him leave, then turned on her parents, frowning.

"Okay, what's going on?" she demanded of her startled mother and father, "What did you say to Seth that's making him act so strange? He's never worried about money and homes before!" The two adults looked at each other in concern, then smiled gently at her.

"Rui, honey, I don't think he's good for you. It's not proper to have a respectable young lady associated with a criminal." Mrs. Roane told her carefully, "Perhaps you should go to the Market and take a look around there. There are any number of suitable young men who would love to get acquainted with you." Rui flushed and stamped her foot.

"Mom! Seth is **not** a criminal! And I'm not going to Market! I'm almost eighteen years old! I can make my own decisions!" she protested, "I love Seth! You can't change my mind about that!"

"You haven't really tried to get to know anyone else." her father remarked idly, "Just give the Market a try."

"Dad!"

"Really, Rui, you're basing this idealistic romance of yours on what? His rescuing you in Phenac?" Mrs. Roane pointed out, "Need I remind you that the criminal organization he worked for was responsible for your kidnapping? It may all be just a ploy to gain your trust, as well as your trust fund."

"Oh, you're both impossible!" Rui yelled and raced for her room. Mrs. Roane sighed and threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Must I find a proper husband for her as well?" she asked the heavens and headed off to another room, "I only hope my contact numbers are up to date..." Mr. Roane sighed as well and shook his head. This wasn't going well at all. He made his way to the entertainment room and searched around for a distraction. The television was still on from earlier; he'd been watching the news for his stock report when Rui had arrived. A report was being displayed, but it wasn't about business.

"...making her the third influential girl to disappear in the last three months." the anchorman reported, "Again, Silver Summers, Johto Champion, was last seen traveling towards the Lake of Rage in Johto when she mysteriously vanished without a trace. She is the most influential trainer in the Johto region and the third girl to disappear in the last three months." Mr. Roane frowned and clicked the television off.

"Johto's security must be lacking if it can let their most powerful trainer just vanish like that." he mused aloud, "I suppose Crystal Summers will renew her petition to take the title herself. Such pettiness."


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Rui wasn't pleased with the situation. Seth had woken earlier than her and just vanished into Zirconia. He had left a message with the maid for her. According to the maid, Seth had gone to search the downtown area for parts to repair the speeder.

"It didn't look damaged to me." she murmured and joined her parents for breakfast, "Mom, Dad, did Seth have anything to eat for breakfast?"

"He declined. Rather rude to refuse someone's hospitality like that." Mrs. Roane replied crisply, "I suppose he'd rather steal the food than accept an offering."

"Mom! He's **not** stealing anything!" Rui yelled and looked between them, "Can you tell me where he went, then? If Seth doesn't eat, I don't know what will happen to him. He _has_ to eat well, or he'll get sick."

"So now he's not healthy?" her mother inquired. Rui glared at her. "Don't give me that. It's a reasonable thing for me to worry about."

"He only said he was going downtown. We didn't press him for details, dear." Roane told her. Rui threw up her hands in frustration and hurried out the house.

* * *

Seth darted through the alleys with Jupiter and Pluto at his side. The jewelry store was closed, its owner off on vacation, and the Snagger would rather examine the precious items without someone watching him every moment. He stopped by the building and eyed the height of the business. 

"It's scalable, and there don't seem to be any cameras here. Jupe, you sense anything?" he whispered.

_"Everything is clear on this side."_ the Espeon replied.

"Okay, act as the lookout. Pluto, you're with me." Seth murmured as he took a grappling hook from his pack and spun it in his hand. He released it, watching the hook soar up and catch on the edge of the building. A few tugs to test the security of the line and they were ready to enter. Pluto whimpered softly as Jupiter trotted to the storefront and sat down, looking regal and completely in place.

_"This doesn't seem to be such a great idea, Seth. Especially in our condition. I'm hungry, Jupe's hungry, and I know you're starving."_ the Umbreon told his trainer. _"What if you collapse in the middle of this job?"_

"I'll be fine." Seth replied and called Pluto back into his Poké Ball, tucking it into his pocket. He checked the rope again, then began climbing up the wall, wishing briefly that he had decided to do this while it was dark. He reach the roof quickly and crouched, scanning the surroundings for any cameras or security devices Jupiter may have overlooked. He released Pluto again and the two carefully made their way to the skylight in the center of the marble rooftop.

Seth didn't like the glass dome shining light into the building. It looked too easy an entry to be trusted. His doubts about it were confirmed after he sprayed it gently with a fine white powder and several thin lasers appeared over the glass. He set the can down and frowned.

"I don't think I've ever had to deal with laser security before." Seth muttered to his companion, "Any ideas?"

_"We go back to the house and eat."_

"Pluto, I _have_ to pick out a ring at least. And I can't do it like these other people do. I'm not like them." Seth sighed and eyed the array of lasers, "These things are just light, right? Can't we just reflect it to avoid triggering the alarm?" Pluto studied the light with him, head cocked thoughtfully.

_"Yeah, but if this is the alarm for the outside, think what might be in use inside the building. We're going to need something to cut the power to this place so the alarms die."_ he remarked. Seth blinked and searched his pockets again.

"Electromagnetic pulses can kill electronic equipment, right? Let's have Jolteon fire a pulse off." he suggested and released the third Eon in his team. It shook its head and blinked up at him. "Jolteon, do you think you can charge your electricity and release it as an EMP burst?" Seth asked it.

_"A little unorthodox for electricity, but yeah. I can pull that off. But won't it fry that thing on your arm, too?"_ the Jolteon replied warily.

"The Snag Machine Alpha is insulated against it, so go ahead and burst away." Seth answered with a grin, stepping back as the Eon charged itself up. Pluto backed up with him, wary of the third Eon. He knew Jolteons were capable of learning a powerful Bug-type move, Pin Missile, and after nearly dying from a blast of it in Johto long ago, he wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of a Jolteon in Seth's team.

_"Here it goes!"_ the Jolteon barked and the blast of pale blue rippled outward. There was a large amount of snapping and popping, and the lasers flickered out.

_"Hey, whatever you did up there is catching people's attention."_ Jupiter called out, _"Wrap this up soon. Working on empty stomachs makes us sloppy, and I hate prison food."_ Seth sighed and rolled his eyes before turning to the job of cutting through the glass dome.

* * *

Rui went from building to building, asking around for Seth as she continued her search for the Snagger. No one had seen him, but they grew a lot more wary of their businesses and homes once alerted that the Snagger was wandering around downtown. Frustrated, Rui continued walking down the street. 

Instead of getting answers in Zirconia, she only got more questions. Seth was a lot more tense now, and his disappearing on her like this wasn't helping. And her parents were of even less help! How dare they suggest she go off to Market when she already had a boyfriend!

Market was a term coined by Zirconia to describe the Grand Hall and Ballroom in the center of the city. During the spring, everyone who was anyone headed there for the biggest parties, and often brought along daughters and sons who were out looking for a little love. The majority of Zirconia's families came from the Market's success stories, and it was touted as the best place to find quality mates.

Rui definitely did not want to go to Market; she was perfectly happy with snagging a Snagger.

Only, her Snagger went AWOL on her and wasn't making the best impression on the city.

"Where are you?" she muttered, eyes searching the surroundings for the familiar deep blue coat and black and red Snag Machine. Seth's choice of clothes would make him stand out in Zirconia, so why was she having so much trouble finding him?

Finally, she stopped and searched her purse for her PDA, determined to find the Snagger one way or another. Tapping through the menu options, Rui set the PDA to scanning the city for Seth's tracking chip. It hung on a collar that he wore around his neck, a gift from Rui roughly half a year ago, and it put Seth on the Kids Grid Network, a GPS chip that rarely failed to report on his exact location.

The green blip appeared on her screen and she blinked. According to the PDA, Seth was further across the city than she was, several streets over to be precise. She looked up and searched the area again. If she traveled that way, she'd wind up in the finer business region, known for the abundance of shops and boutiques. What would Seth be doing over there if he was supposed to be looking for speeder parts?

"What are you _really_ up to, Seth?" Rui muttered as she hurried along on her search.

* * *

The store smelled of burnt electronics. Seth sniffed, sneezed and blinked in surprise as he slid down a rope tossed into the shop. Pluto was already illuminating the darkened store with the rings on his body, sniffing around carefully for anything they may have forgotten to disable. 

_"Everything looks okay. Smells lousy, but looks clear."_ the Umbreon grumbled. Seth touched down and looked around himself. The display cases were full of jewelry, everything from diamond-laden rings to the most exotic necklaces. _"Man, I kinda wish we still did our old tricks. We could make a fortune passing these underground!"_ Pluto remarked in awe, leaping up to put his forepaws against the glass and peering through the cases. _"So which one are you getting for Rui?"_

"Something affordable and simple. If it's too full of gems, I might end up stealing it back or something." Seth muttered and peered in with him, "By the flame of Moltres, look at all this! How do these people manage to keep eating with the prices on this stuff?" He shook his head. "These people have everything they could ever want. How can I possibly offer Rui anything better when I'm just a Snagger who can't steal anything anymore?" he groaned and propped himself up against the glass. Pluto scanned the jewelry again, then looked up at him.

_"If it helps, we can always try looking for a diamond of our own. Wasn't Pyrite founded as a mining town?"_ he pointed out. Seth nodded.

"But they've already dug up whatever gems were down there. That's how The Under and the Deep were created. And the gems were small and low quality. Why else is Pyrite still such a poor place?" he countered and gazed down at the array of gems and jewels.

_"Simple. Affordable. Simple. Affordable."_ Pluto muttered as he trotted to another case full of jewelry. _"The only way any of this junk could be affordable is if we heisted Cipher's bank account. I don't even want to **think** about the number of battles we'd have to win to gather up this much cash. And that's **with** the Amulet Coin, too!"_ The two of them wandered around inside the shop, searching for something, _anything_, within the meager budget Seth had on hand. _"I'm all for just cracking open the case and picking out a handful of this stuff."_

"We can't steal anything. We're trying to clean ourselves up, remember?" the Snagger pointed out with a shaky grin. Pluto paused and looked back at him, concerned. "All of this is too pricey. Let's get out of here. We're wasting time and I still have..." Seth swayed on his feet, then stumbled and finally collapsed onto the floor. With a startled cry, the Umbreon darted to his side and nudged at him, then turned to tugging on his jacket with his teeth.

_"I **knew** we should have eaten something! Seth, you can't function without eating! Raykyoudon's power is too demanding to just put off like this!"_ Pluto growled and raced for the front of the store, yelping and barking to catch his twin's attention. Jupiter peered in at him, confused. _"Jupe! He's collapsed again! Get help!"_

_"From where?"_ the Espeon exclaimed helplessly and looked around in a panic.

_"Find Rui! Maybe she can do something!"_ Pluto returned and the Espeon nodded, then dashed off.

* * *

Rui headed down the next block, her eyes on the PDA, when she heard the frantic yelping. Lifting her eyes in confusion, she watched Jupiter race up to her, then hop around on his feet almost frantically. For a moment, she couldn't understand what exactly was going on, then gasped in realization. Seth would _never_ let Jupiter or Pluto wander off like this, not in Zirconia, not when he was trying to reform! And in this panicked state... something must have happened to Seth! 

"Jupiter! Where's Seth?" Rui blurted out fearfully. The Espeon took on a grateful look, then turned and dashed back the way he came, the redhead chasing after. She sneaked another glance at her PDA, then cried in shock as the signal suddenly was lost, the message 'System Down for Maintenance' flashing on the blanked screen. "What? What's the Kids Grid doing?" she yelled, "Nett! This isn't the time to cut off my access of Seth's locater chip!"

But with his Espeon on the job, the chip wasn't needed, and she was soon standing bewildered before a jewelry shop. Jupiter was gasping for air as Rui studied the building. This shop was one of the least expensive in Zirconia, but it still carried pricey items. What would Seth be doing in there? While it was closed? Her eyes widened; what if he was in there, stealing something? And Jupiter came to her to stop him?

"Jupiter, can you open this door? It's locked." she whispered to the Espeon. He nodded and glowed softly, and Rui heard the faint click of the door. Seth could easily have gone in this way, but it was more risky; too many eyes and always the danger of something nasty behind the door. He had told her so himself several times in their prior quests; Seth hated just walking through the front door... about as much as Red did.

Rui shook away thoughts of the older Kanto Champion they had befriended and carefully pushed the door open, walking into the shop as she kept her eyes open for unwanted witnesses. The interior was dark and it smelled of burned electronics. Pluto the Umbreon sat to one side of the shop, whimpering softly. Picking her way towards the glowing rings in the shadows, Rui was able to make out the Pokémon's body shape and, just past Pluto, the fallen form of Seth Evice. With a cry of alarm, she dropped to his side and shook his shoulder, calling his name softly.

"Uhn." the Snagger only groaned and slowly opened one eye, "Rui...? Wh... what are you...?" He flinched and closed his eyes again, falling silent once more. Rui pulled at him, struggling to lift him onto her back. He wasn't heavy, Seth had always been surprisingly light despite his near-voracious appetite, but he was wiry and it was easy to lose track of his limbs in the air. She managed it anyway and began making her way back to the door with Pluto tagging along.

--------

"What are you doing in there? Why would you be in a jewelry store?" Rui asked as she closed the door to the boutique a few minutes later. Seth was safely hidden in the alley by the shop, and he had regained consciousness again, maintaining it by the sheer strength of his will. Jupiter glowed again, locking the door with his psychic powers.

"I was only looking at things. I didn't take anything." the Snagger replied with a faintly hurt tone. It quickly took a sharp edge, though. "But I'm not paying for the guy's crappy security. He's rich; let him write the stupid check." he added bitterly. Rui winced. There was that money issue again, and he had paused before finishing his sentence, probably to censor himself; Seth did have a slight problem with crude language.

"But why are you suddenly interested in jewelry, if you're not going to steal it?" Rui questioned, walking back to him and digging through her handbag for a sandwich. "Were you doing a test of wills or something?"

"Something." Seth returned evasively and accepted the sandwich, devouring it almost as quickly as it was given to him. He looked somewhat relieved and gazed skyward. "I wish I was pure human. Then I wouldn't have to deal with Raykyoudon. But I know I need him to terraform Orre." he muttered.

"Why won't you tell me anything?" Rui pleaded almost tearfully, "We've been together for so long, but you're still hiding things from me? Why?" Seth folded his arms over his chest and glared at his boots. There was something going on, and it hurt that she was being left out of it. Rui couldn't understand anything that was going on. He wanted a house, but why bother when the Orre desert was his home? He was trying to collect large sums of money, but he was reducing himself and his team to husks cutting corners to do it. And now he was perusing jewelry with no intention of taking a single piece. What was he trying to do?

"I don't suppose you have another sandwich in there, do you?" Seth suddenly asked, eyes looking almost desperately towards her bag. She searched it and brought out an apple that had been meant to be her snack. Handing it to him, she watched in silence as the Snagger took it with a brief thanks, flicked out a small switchblade and cut it in half. He cut that again, handed a piece each to the Eons, then one to Rui. He chewed his piece slowly, looking almost as if he wanted to cry as well.

But the expression soon passed, replaced by a determined look as Seth forced himself to stand and slipped the knife away. He whistled to the twins and they joined his side. Rui stood with him, brushing dust from her skirt.

"I'd better get back to my schedule. You should head on home." he told the redhead, "I'll be back in an hour."

"Okay." she sighed and blinked before digging in her handbag again. She quickly pulled out a few colorful bills and held them out to Seth. "Here. So you can buy some lunch for..." She trailed off, eyes going wide at the withering glare coming at her. "Seth?"

"I. Am. Not. Taking. Your. Money." he growled, immediately offended, "I've told you already. When I'm here, I will function by my own means. I don't need anyone else's money to survive." Rui shoved the bills back in her bag, fuming.

"Fine! Starve then! See if I care!" she blurted hotly, "You're so stubborn, Seth Evice! Can't you see I'm trying to help because I love you?" With that, she turned and raced down the street, disappearing from sight. The twins looked up in disapproval at their friend and partner. Seth sighed helplessly, spreading his hands.

"I can't do it, guys. If I let her know, she'll get her hopes up. And if I can't come through, it'll break her heart." he tried to explain and shook his head, "Sometimes, I still wonder why I stay with her, why I love her so much. But it's the same as with the desert; I can't leave either one." He motioned slightly. "Come on. I can spare a few dollars for something to eat." he added quietly, "Then we'll look for..." He swallowed his pride thickly.

"A job."


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Rui arrived home in a depressed mood. Whatever was happening with Seth was definitely changing him, and her parents were obviously to blame. But why would anything they said have such an impact? What did they tell him? She opened the door to the house and walked in, blinking when she realized her parents were entertaining guests. Mrs. Roane noticed her and stood up, delighted.

"Ah, Rui! We were just speaking of you, dear! Come and sit with us." she remarked brightly and her guests rose to greet her, "You remember Mr. Flareton, Rui? Well, it just so happens that his nephew, Gregory, moved here from Hoenn just a few months ago. I think the two of you will make great..." Rui's mother smiled, but it wasn't as nice as Rui thought it should be. "...friends." she finished, but her tone was implying something else entirely. Rui's face flushed angrily.

"Oh, yes. Nice to meet you, Gregory." she replied politely, bowing to the dark-haired youth and his peppery uncle, "My name is Rui, and I'd be delighted to be your friend. Perhaps later we can meet my boyfriend, Seth, and talk about your travels from Hoenn. We've been there recently and found it to be in a state of... disorder." Gregory stiffened as his uncle looked uncomfortable and Rui's parents gave her disapproving glares.

"Ah, so you were... and that Snagger they spoke of is... I see." Gregory stammered out, "Um. Thank you both very much for helping Hoenn. It's... recovering. I've heard that May Thorne has been singing your praises almost constantly, and uses an Orre-inspired double-Pokémon team for certain battles." Rui smiled tightly.

"I'm glad to hear that Hoenn is doing well." she replied coolly, "I'll be sure to send May and Brendan an e-mail about how we're doing. We're close friends, and I do miss them. I've not heard much else about Hoenn in so long." Gregory scratched his head, looking more and more flushed as he stood there.

"Well, we do have a missing Gym leader. Flannery, from Lavaridge Town, just disappeared one day. No one's been able to find her, and there isn't much in the way of clues." he remarked hesitantly, "Hoenn's been pretty frantic; the Elite Four Challenge is postponed until she's been found, and trainers are wandering the region without much direction."

Rui stared at him in alarm. A Gym leader? Gone? Knowing how much Hoenn and the other Gym-dependent regions relied on their Gym leaders to ensure trainers had goals to work for, losing even one threw off the entire Pokémon training community. Not to mention, Gym leaders' Pokémon were among the strongest in the region. If they were in the wrong hands... Rui didn't want to imagine the possibilities. She nearly lived through one just a few months ago.

"I see." she finally said. "I'll tell Seth about it. We may have to take another trip to see what's going on." With that, she ran for the stairs to her room. Mrs. Roane frowned and apologized to her guests.

"Really, it's the fault of that ruffian she's been dating. And I don't know how she managed to go to Hoenn without us knowing. There's no airport in Orre! The only way in or out is through the Retoh Mountains or by the sea, and Orre's ports are barely functioning now that their income is stabilizing." she explained in a rush, "That whole desert is trying to lure Zirconia influence away from here; they even have that blasted Pokémon Lab under construction over there, even though they're already doing their research here!"

"It's okay." Gregory sighed, "It's probably not much use trying to set up a Market in your own house." He and his uncle both said their goodbyes and left. Mrs. Roane turned to her husband as soon as they were gone.

"That thief is making things far too difficult for us! So he impressed us once by helping us with Meowth, but really! Now that we know who he really is, we can't let Rui stay with him!" she hissed, "We've got to find a suitor for her and get her married safely off before that Snagger completes the mission we gave him!" She said the term with a great amount of distaste. Roane shrugged almost helplessly.

"He does seem determined to win Rui's hand. I'm sure we can call in a few more friends and favors. Surely someone has a son or nephew that could serve as a proper husband." he told her and frowned, "The news of Hoenn is disturbing, though. Really, how badly is security failing in the other regions for powerful trainers to disappear? And both of them women?"

* * *

The day was nearly at an end and all Seth could think was how sweet it would be to tear a chunk of the continent out from underneath Zirconia and send it all directly to hell. He'd almost started, too, but Pluto bit his leg once he realized the large, jagged crack in the earth was Seth's doing and not a sinkhole. 

Now he sat in a park, nursing the small wound and glaring at Pluto, who glared back with equal irritation with his twin.

"You didn't have to do that." Seth growled.

_"You shouldn't abuse your power. Cipher created you to destroy the world; you promised Wesley, Rui, and the Pokémon of Orre that you would use your life to save Orre."_ Pluto returned just as harshly, _"Don't break that promise. The future of our region is at stake."_

"Peh, says the Johto Eevee." the Snagger grumbled.

_"We're not Johto Pokémon; we're Orre Pokémon. And we mean it. Stop wasting your energy on stupid crap."_ Jupiter snapped, _"We have to finish this mission. You **do** still want to marry Rui, right?"_

"Of course I do!" Seth griped, "Everything I do, I do it for her. Can I help it if I want to be with her for the rest of my life? Considering how many times she's saved it?"

_"It's only fair. You saved her first."_ the Umbreon remarked. Seth sighed and nodded, resting his chin on one fist as he watched the people in the park living their oblivious, wealthy lives.

"It's difficult, loving someone so much after spending a lifetime never knowing love." he murmured and smiled, glancing aside at his old friends, "And I have you two to thank for helping me be free." The Eons almost blushed at that, ducking their heads down. "Friendship evolution requires love, and taking care of you two while we grew up together... those are good memories. Ho-oh knows I have so few of them altogether."

_"Enough gushiness. We have work to do."_ Pluto finally managed to say, his eyes liquid with warmth and fondness, _"We haven't been able to get a job here. No one wants to hire a Snagger for anything. So, what can we do to raise money to buy a car to travel Orre, start a savings account to support Rui's life, and get the engagement ring to actually ask her to marry you?"_

"Dunno. I'm starting to run out of ideas. Orre is trying so hard to grow; there are new towns and ports sprouting up everywhere. But funds are tight even with the Orre Colosseum and Realgam Colosseum Challenges bringing in money from the other regions." Seth sighed and clenched his jaw, slamming a fist onto the bench, "I hate this! In some strange way, Orre is a part of me and I'm a part of Orre. The idea that Orre is practically _begging_ for money from the other regions is as disgusting to me as the idea of borrowing money from Rui!" The twins jumped at the slam and stared at him in confusion. "Don't you guys feel it too? That weird link with the desert?" Seth questioned, eyes tainted with a confused helplessness, "Sometimes, I think it's almost _alive_. I can almost feel its heartbeat... and it's my own heart."

_"Seth man, you're weirding us out. Let's go back to the house. It's been more than five hours and Rui was expecting you back after one."_ Jupiter said warily, _"She's gonna be pissed at you."_ The Snagger sighed again and stood up.

"You're right. Maybe it's all in my head. I'd hate to think I'm getting delirious in the desert. It's never happened to me before, but then, I didn't have the knowledge that I was a Pokémon passing for human." he muttered and walked on, "Let's go."

Rui was definitely not happy with him arriving so late. He took her words in stride, then headed to his room, shaking his head. It all seemed so hopeless earlier, and then to see her before him, angry as she was, it only made him want to keep pushing. He had to find a way to fulfill all the requirements her parents demanded so he could finally marry her and be done with it. A desert prince needs a desert princess, after all.

That thought made him pause, a worried frown coming over his face. It reminded him of his earlier musings, about how it felt like the whole of the Orre region was connected to him. If anyone needed help about the desert, Seth was the best source of information and aid around. Because of Groudon, he could survive the blistering heat, seek out sheltered caves, crack open the earth to find water; because of Kyogre, he could actually sense where the water was trapped deep below Orre, and force a rainstorm if need be; because of Rayquaza, he could turn aside entire sandstorms, cool the burning winds, even halt a dangerous storm dead in its tracks; and because all that power was sealed in his body, he was constantly in search of ways to keep it secreted away.

But it's hard to do when one's body is always screaming for nutrition and the desert itself seems to yearn for one's 'awakening'.

_"Seth, snap out of it. You look like you're contemplating suicide again."_ Jupiter grumbled.

"Sorry. I wasn't but... sorry." Seth sighed again, "Should we try again tomorrow? Job hunting, I mean?"

_"We ain't got anything better to do. Unless you want to sneak inside another jewelry store."_ Pluto muttered. The Snagger smiled suddenly, that oddly vicious grin that remained even after leaving Cipher and Snagem behind.

"That was fun." he commented slyly, "I'd forgotten how much I loved sneaking into buildings like that. Such a wonderful feeling... I'm sure I could do it again. Too bad I can't get a job doing that."

_"You could if you were a mercenary, like Red."_ Jupiter pointed out, leaping onto the bed and curling up into a ball of fur. _"The Chosen Master was doing pretty damn good on his own; you saw his jet, didn't you?"_ Seth blinked at that and pulled a small card from his wallet, gazing down at the confusing string of numbers and letters printed neatly on it.

It was something Red had given him, shortly after Rui 'resurrected' him in The Under. The older trainer had told him a strange message as he studied the card warily. _'If you ever need anything that must be done in the cloak of anonymity, enter this in your PDA.'_ Seth had agreed, but only because he wanted Red out of the room so he could go back to his reunion with Rui. Now, the offer was tempting. Maybe Red could find a job for him that was... less than legal?

If it paid well, he'd take anything.

"Tomorrow, we'll go out and eat a good breakfast." he finally told the twins as they both curled up in bed, "I'm going to contact Red and see if he can help me out of this new jam." The Eons blinked sleepily at him, but they nodded in agreement. Seth joined them soon after and lay back, a smile on his face that grew from pleased to viciously determined. "Just you wait, Rui! I'll gather up all the things you deserve and then we'll be married! We'll always be together, as we wished..."

* * *

Rui was getting tired of waking up in the morning and finding Seth had gone off without her. It was annoying as all hell, but somehow it didn't dampen her love for him. Seth was always going to be that way; it was as much a part of him as sensing Pokémon auras was a part of her. If he could accept the idea that she could see his aura as easily as any other Pokémon's, then she should accept the fact that the Snagger just wanted to do things on his own sometimes.

But that left her alone to deal with her parents, and neither one wanted to answer her questions. Her mother spoke at great lengths about a dozen young men that were friends of the family, and how they had all grown 'oh so handsome' and would be just perfect for Rui. Her father seemed to scowl a lot more often, and the rare instances where she could see him and Seth together... it was almost as if they were trying to stab each other with their eyes.

This trip was not going well.

"Let's go, Rui!" Mrs. Roane twittered cheerfully, grabbing her by the arm and whisking her out the door before Rui could figure out what exactly was happening.

"Wha-? Where are we going?" she asked as the little family bustled into a waiting car. It began driving off and everyone inside settled down a little.

"To Market, of course! Time to see who's there and all!" Mrs. Roane cooed, "I bet everyone's _dying_ to see you!" Rui would have shrieked in outrage, but her throat tightened in barely controlled fury and strangled the sound. Her face turned a bright red, brilliant blue eyes flashing with anger.

Market! Again with the Market! By the fires of Ho-oh, didn't her parents get the idea by now that she would **never** choose anyone else? She had Seth; she loved him with every fiber of her being and she knew he felt the same way. The man willingly _died_ for her! She nearly lost him to jealousy once before; Lugia knows what more could happen if she was stuck in a marriage against her will and he found out about it!

She managed an infuriated squeak as the car pulled up to the bustling building swarming with couples. Well, fine! Be that way! She'd be an absolute bitch to everyone there and then find Seth. This was enough! She'd rather elope then go through all this!

* * *

The Market was filled with men and women of all ages, laughing, chatting, dancing, eating, doing everything with eyes searching out potential mates. It was like attending a mass date. Rui absolutely _loathed_ it.

"Well, hello there, Miss..." someone started to say to her.

"Go screw yourself." Rui snarled without even looking at the man who approached her. Startled, the owner of the voice hurried away. Oh, how this place made her feel sick with fury. _"Seth, dear Seth, burn this place down for me. Burn it to cinders and ashes!"_ she thought with a great deal of uncharacteristic violence. She shook her head free of the thought. No, can't think that way. Seth would look at her with those hurt eyes if he ever learned she was picking up on his darker habits. It couldn't be helped; she had been a Snagger, too, for a very short while.

But all these people, coming up to her, trying so hard to gauge her for her potential in marriage, trying to check out what 'advantages' they could get for marrying her... Hideous. The only advantage she could think of is they'd unknowingly gain control over Seth, and thus Raykyoudon. She shuddered at the thought. No one should command a super-legendary but the one who was born to be it. Rui definitely didn't want someone trying to crack the earth again.

So she was vicious and cruel and crude to every man who came close to her. Not just to protect herself; she had to protect Seth too! As his girlfriend, she had to stand by him through thick and thin, and keep him safe from all the bad things in the world that wouldn't hesitate to steal away his power or even worse... force him to do things that would hurt the Pokémon and people he loved so much.

In the end, she won and her parents quickly escaped with her, muttering many apologies and looking about as embarrassed as any shocked couple could be.

The arguments on the way home were nothing short of verbal warfare. It occurred to Rui sometime after they pulled into the driveway that she had never been so rebellious to her parents before. Maybe it was because she now had something to fight so ferociously for. There was just no way she could possibly let her parents take her away from Seth. A romantic at heart, she dreamed that her love for Seth, and his for her, would last forever. Nothing could come between them!

She pulled away from her mother and father and headed upstairs, nearly bumping into Seth as he headed downstairs. Rui blinked in surprise. This was a first; she was getting back kind of late and he was already in the house. He stopped in surprise as well, the expression on his face almost funny. Rui giggled just a bit, then laughed as the Snagger only grinned back at her. She remembered how he would scowl and turn his back on her for giggling like that, long ago. She was glad that he reacted differently now.

"You seem happy. Something good happen?" he asked. Rui stopped laughing abruptly and frowned. "Or not?" Seth went on in a concerned tone, "Rui, what's wrong?"

"I got taken to the Market. I think my parents want me to marry somebody from Zirconia." she grumbled, "I keep telling them I love you, but they won't listen!" Seth's face fell at her words, then twisted in dark anger.

"That sneak." he growled and headed downstairs, "Stay up here! Don't come down!" Rui watched him leave and looked puzzled. What was he going to do now? Her eyes widened; surely he wasn't going to hurt her family, right? Carefully, she snuck back towards the stairs and listened to the voices down below.

* * *

While Rui was at the Market, Seth was securely hidden in an alley, his PDA in one hand, the card in the other. Pluto and Jupiter were happily fed and sat by him, watching curiously as the Snagger carefully typed in the string of numbers and letters in the address bar of the e-mail message. Then, unsure of what else to do, he tapped 'Enter' and waited. After a moment, a message came back to his e-mail box. Seth opened it and blinked at the phone number typed into the message. There was also a short note.

_"Delete this message once you call me."_ it said. Seth nodded in mutual understanding. He memorized the number, then deleted the e-mail on the spot, carefully searching the contents of his online connection to destroy all other traces of the mail. He smiled as he finished; Red would approve.

"Let's make a phone call, guys." Seth told the Eons, standing up and jingling a few coins in his hand.

_"So what are we doing?"_ Jupiter asked as they headed towards a pay phone on the corner of the street.

"We're going to ask Red for a job." Seth replied easily, watching a young woman walking down the same sidewalk as him. A little boy tagged along beside her, hand in hand; obviously, the woman's son. "I'm sure he's got..." the Snagger trailed to silence, golden eyes drawn to the young redhead who stared up at him. The woman wasn't paying that much attention, as she stopped to gaze at something in the window of a boutique. The boy halted and kept his luminous green eyes on Seth, wide with awe. Seth stopped walking and only stood there, watching him in return with a carefully masked expression, his left arm resting akimbo, Snag Machine shining almost menacingly in the light of day.

Something about this kid, with his messy hair styled so closely like his own, tugged at Seth's mental barriers. Cute kid, looked a little like a cross between himself and Rui. Allowing himself a public smirk, he indulged in a pleasant fantasy; himself and Rui, living happily in the desert... with a child or two playing innocently by them. If he could pull a few good jobs, it could very well become reality.

"Come on, Michael. Time to go. Daddy's gonna have a surprise for us when we get back home." the woman remarked. The boy blinked and followed obediently, but continued to watch Seth over his shoulder. The Snagger turned back to his own path and walked on.

_"What's with you and the kid?"_ Pluto questioned. Both Eons had sat by him when he stopped, watching the boy as sharply as Seth had.

"Dunno. I think... he kinda reminds me of... me." Seth finally returned and shrugged, "Oh well. Let's call Red and get a job. I can't wait to see Rui's face when I finally have everything!" He smiled brightly, eyes shimmering with barely suppressed joy. "I'm going to marry you, Rui! We'll be together forever!"

* * *

He dialed the number, waited as the phone rang, then stiffened as it clicked and Red's voice came on.

_"Did you delete the mail?"_ the older man asked.

"Yes." Seth replied softly.

_"I knew I could count on you. Now, what is it that you need?"_ Red asked. Seth could picture in his mind how the man was probably answering the phone. He'd be in a dark room, dressed in his infiltration uniform of thick black cloth and light armor. And his Pikachu, that infernally witty little rat, would be sitting on his head as always, using his trainer's black hair to hold himself steady.

"I need a job, Red. I'm trying to earn money, but Orre can barely support itself, and the amount I need is pretty hefty." Seth explained hurriedly. There was a pause. "Red, don't make me say it." the Snagger sighed.

_"I won't help unless you tell me the true reason behind this sudden need to acquire wealth."_ the former Kanto Champion only remarked. Seth made a frustrated noise; he and Red were too far alike for comfort.

"Fine, you old jerk." he hissed, "I need to gather the money to buy the things Rui's parents said I need in order to ask Rui to marry me. But I can't get work, and my funds are almost dead. I need your help." There was another pause.

_"Your funds are low? Surely you know about... didn't you... hold on."_ Red muttered and the sounds of keys being tapped sounded. Seth waited impatiently until he returned. _"I see. No wonder. Well, actually, there is something I need help with. I was planning on doing a certain mission on my own, but I could use a partner for this."_ the older man finally reported, _"If you help me complete this mission, I will pay you 1.5 million dollars. That sound good?"_

Seth's jaw dropped open and he made a strangled gasp of shock. That was more money than he had ever laid hands on before! Even his best night of stealing only netted him a few thousand dollars worth of loot! 1.5 _million_?

_"No? How about 2 million then? Come on, Seth, it's a very important job to me."_ Red pressed a bit more urgently, _"Ah, forget it; if you'll help me, you can name your price and I'll pay it. Feel free to jump up to 5 million if you want, just help me!"_

"That's so much!" Seth finally replied, wincing at how weak his voice sounded even to him, "But if your mission means that much, then of course I'll help! How can we get in touch again?"

_"This number is only good for this conversation. In three days, I'll be flying over Gyara Lake in the desert. Be there. And thanks for the help."_ Red told him and hung up. Seth set the phone back on the cradle and allowed his hopes to soar.

Up to five million dollars! Finally! By the fires of Ho-oh, he was finally getting a break!

He'd have to pack and leave right away, and Rui would be safe in Zirconia. Gyara Lake; it was a misnomer, as the lake had long dried up and all that remained was a huge dent in the desert that was half-filled with sand. He knew its location, middle of nowhere practically, and gauged the distance in his head. From Zirconia, by speeder, he would barely make it.

He had to leave tonight, right now if possible.

"Let's go, guys! We have a job!" Seth cheered and raced down the street with Pluto and Jupiter chasing after him happily.

* * *

Seth had been surprised to find the house empty of Rui and her parents, but took the opportunity to throw his things together. He'd leave another message with the maid, maybe grab a bite to eat, then head for the Orre desert again. Time was of the essence!

He slung on the pack and headed out, intent on finding the maid for his message, and completely missed the redhead that ran up towards him. She bumped into him, blinked, then giggled. Seth stared back in surprise, then smiled warmly at her, thoughts of them soon to be together filling him with a joy he never thought he'd experience.

"You seem happy. Did you have a good time out?" he asked, trying his best to hide his excitement. Rui's mood immediately soured and his excitement quickly died away, replaced by concern. "Or not? What's wrong, Rui?"

"They took me to the Market." Rui grumbled, blue eyes full of anger, "I keep telling them I don't want to marry anyone here, but my parents can't get it in their heads that I love only you!"

Seth's heart sank. So that was what their plan was. Give him impossible tasks, then while he was busy playing Hercules, Roane and his wife would foist Rui off on the first rich boy that came along. His face twisted in a fury. Well, two can play that game! In just one job, Seth will become rich too! Then there won't be any reason to stop him from marrying Rui!

"That sneak." he growled and dashed for the stairs, calling back a warning to the redhead. He hurried down the stairs and caught up to the two adults talking irritably to each other. "Roane! I thought we had an understanding about this situation, and I learn that you two have been trying to undermine me." Seth hissed darkly, ignoring the suddenly frightened expression on Mrs. Roane and the indignant one on her husband. "I am not going to be defeated by mere boys with their pants pockets filled with money handed to them for being alive! I'm going to fulfill my end of the bargain and I _will_ have Rui!"

"As I have told you, there is nothing you can do. Rui will marry one of the men in Zirconia, the Roane Family's ties will increase and strengthen, and she will return to being her sweet self again." Roane told him, not intimidated in the least by the Snagger. "I see you've packed your things. Your actions contradict your words."

"I'm leaving Zirconia to accept a job, a job that will pay me enough to earn the right to marry Rui." Seth growled, "If I return to find that anything has happened to her in my absence, believe me... This entire city will feel my wrath!" With that, he stormed out the door, the Eons safely stowed in their respective Poké Balls.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

Rui sat in a numb shock on the steps. No matter how many times she replayed the words over in her head, it still sounded unreal. Was _that_ why he had been so tormented for so long? He was trying to fulfill some crazy tasks set out by her parents so he could... _marry_ her?

"Seth." she murmured and ran her fingers through her hair, "I'm sorry. All this started because of me. And it's so hard because my parents are trying to cheat." She frowned and stood up. "Then I'll help you myself!" she decided and ran downstairs, taking up an air of obliviousness.

"Rui? Where are you going?" Mrs. Roane demanded almost too harshly. The redhead's mind raced. What could she say that took away suspicion of what she knew?

"Uh, to the Market?" she replied and her mother beamed.

"Oh wonderful! That's my girl!" she cheered, "But it's awful late today. Go tomorrow. Off to wash and dinner, dear!"

Rui sighed. This time, she'd have to wait and bide her time. Blowing up now wasn't going to help her help Seth. After all, she smiled shyly, he was doing it to marry her.

* * *

Racing over the sand dunes of Orre, Seth felt a weight lift from his shoulders. This was where he belonged; among the sands and stone of the Orre desert. It looked empty and desolate, and for the most part it was, but in Seth's eyes it was all beautiful and completely indifferent to whoever stepped into it. Rich, poor, young, old, tall, short, wise, dumb; anyone other than Seth walking into the Orre desert was courting death, and it came swiftly to them. The desert didn't care who you were, if you did not have the strength to survive, you died. Simple.

And Seth loved it all the more for that.

It should be strange, that he loved Rui for granting him life and promising so much more life, and the desert for its ability to bring death so casually, so mercilessly. But he did, and damn all others for thinking he was crazy for it.

The moon was rising. He'd have to stop and find shelter soon. He could easily handle the heat of Orre, but the bitter cold at night was a whole other story. The wind rushed by and Seth nearly froze, feeling slightly faint. Crap, that's right; he was part Ground and part Dragon, and subject to their weaknesses. If he were in human form, like now, and fully healthy, it was no problem. He acted as though they didn't exist. But weakened as he was now, Raykyoudon was pressing out on him, trying to bolster his strengths with Pokémon power. Thus, bringing out the weaknesses.

"But it's only... wind..." he moaned softly, "Not an attack... Just wind..." Seth found a cave nearby and gratefully made his way to it, releasing Blaziken and asking for a small fire.

_"Okay. Here goes."_ the Fire-Fighting type muttered and breathed fire onto a small pile of twisted mesquite branches. Seth thanked it and called it back, releasing his loyal companions in its place. They huddled together, close to the fire, as they began dozing off. They were safe, warm, and soon, they would be together with Rui in Phenac. All would be fine.

* * *

Market was crowded and Rui could stand the smell of perfume and cologne for only so long. After dodging as many attempted dates as she could, she finally found seclusion in a darkened corner of the building. There really wasn't much time to waste. Seth had left Zirconia for some reason, but he was planning on coming back. In the meantime, she'd have a surprise for him. The Orre Regional Bank still had an operating system, though they were stationed mainly in Zirconia. If she could open an account there for Seth and sneak some money in each time he saved his Pokémon battle earnings to it, he'd soon have enough and...

"We'll get married." she sighed dreamily and jumped when a soft voice laughed near her.

"Romantic dreamer, aren't we?" a man in a soft gray business suit remarked, walking up beside her. Rui glared at him, noting dimly that, not only was he taller than her, he would also be a bit taller than Seth. In a fight, however, Seth would still win. Size didn't matter. There was also a strange scent to him; some exotic cologne maybe? "I don't believe we've been introduced. My name is Apolo Seusur. And you are...?" the stranger inquired.

"Not interested." Rui growled. Apolo only smiled wider.

"That's all right. I only wanted to know your name." he purred, "I already have someone; the Market is only really good for helping find new business partners." Rui stared at him for a moment, then warily told him her name. That cologne was making her head feel kind of light and fuzzy. The man looked somewhat surprised at her. "Rui Roane? The girl who saved Orre?" he asked in an impressed tone, "I never thought I'd meet such a celebrity so soon. This is only the fourth day I've been here."

"I didn't do it by myself. I had Seth to help me. He's my boyfriend." Rui corrected and seemed to relax. This man wasn't after her; he just seemed to be looking for conversation. That wasn't so bad. "He's really good with Pokémon, so we snagged and purified all the Shadow Pokémon in Orre together." Apolo lifted an eyebrow at that, puzzled.

"Snag?" he questioned, "What does that mean?" Rui looked evasive; she wasn't sure if it was wise to tell people who Seth really was. It was, after all, private information. But this man seemed nice, and the world really needed to learn that the Snagger of Orre wasn't a bad guy.

"Well, Seth is a Snagger, which means he has the ability to capture Pokémon that belong to other trainers. But he doesn't do it for bad reasons!" she added quickly, "We took the Shadow Pokémon from trainers who didn't care about them and made them normal again. Seth never snags unless it's for a very good reason. He promised me he would never steal anything again."

"Fascinating." Apolo breathed in wonder and sat on a bench beside her, "It must have been an amazing adventure for you. How did you meet Seth?"

"In Phenac; I had been kidnapped and Seth saved me. At the time, he said his name was Wes, which I thought was short for Wesley, and it was. But he always looked kinda mad if I called him Wes and even more upset if I called him Wesley." Rui went on, wondering faintly why she was divulging so much information. Seth wouldn't like people knowing things about this. "And see, later I found out why. Seth was sort of a clone of a man named Wesley Evice who died thirty years ago. His father missed him so much that he wanted his son back and made Seth to revive Wes. But Wes's soul couldn't come back because he would be forced to obey Garik Evice, his father, who made the Shadow Pokémon. And Wesley was also the name of the experiment that made Seth; Project WSLY." she continued babbling, "So that's why Seth hates it when anyone calls him Wesley, even though it kinda is his name, too."

"He sounds like a strange young man, to be changing names so often and so easily." Apolo mused aloud, "And the two of you saved Orre together?"

"Yup!" Rui giggled as the lightheaded feeling invited her to talk more, "And now Seth is trying to terraform Orre so it can become lush and green again! Cipher was gonna do that, but Wesley died and the company turned evil. Now that Cipher is gone, Seth is stepping in to try to redirect some of the money that's coming in from Pokémon trainers towards that project." The man smiled up at her and she felt good. It wasn't so bad, telling this person about Seth. But some part of her held back on the story. _Don't tell him about Raykyoudon,_ a tiny voice in her mind whispered, _or something bad might happen._ Of course something bad would happen. Every trainer in the world would swoop down on Orre with every kind of Poké Ball in existence, trying to capture him. Could it happen? Probably not, but Rui wasn't gonna risk it.

"What a great story. Well, I'd best be on my way. I hope we cross paths again, Miss Rui." Apolo finally remarked and stood up. He gave her a polite bow and walked away. Rui shook her head and blinked.

What had she been talking about again?

* * *

Orre Desert was almost distracting.

Jupiter and Pluto stared up in confusion as Seth stopped the speeder yet again to shake his head and look around. He couldn't be lost; he knew the desert better than anyone. So what was up with the constant pit stops?

"We only have a day and a half left to reach the lake bed." the Snagger said aloud, "So focus! Don't let your mind wander! You're doing this for Rui!"

_"Seth, are you going crazy? 'Cause if you are, you might want to call Gardevoir out for psychic support."_ Pluto suggested carefully.

"No, I'm okay. Kinda hungry though." Seth muttered and sighed, "I hope everything works out, or I'll end up starving and without Rui."

_"Explain to me why Red is so desperate to get help about a mission that he's gonna throw a million bucks at you."_ Jupiter grumbled, _"I smell a set up."_

"It's Red, Jupe. He's not gonna do anything to me but help me out of this situation." Seth pointed out, "We're the same. Besides, I owe him for helping Rui find me. I'd have helped him out even if he wasn't gonna pay me." He dug into the pack in the sidecar, the twins jostling aside to let him have access. "Now, let's eat something and get back on track. We don't have much time left to meet him."

* * *

Zirconia's branch of the Orre Regional Bank usually wasn't open during Market hours, so Rui had to wait another day for it. But once she was there, she immediately set upon enacting phase one of her 'brilliant' plan, starting up an account for Seth. After all, he can't carry all of his money on him. That's dangerous!

"I'd like to open an account for my boyfriend." Rui told the clerk. The older woman blinked at her. "It's a surprise present. I want to sneak in money when he's not looking, so make it a joint account." she added slyly and the woman smiled in understanding.

"All right. What is his name?" the clerk asked.

"Seth. Seth Evice." Rui replied and thought it over. He didn't like his last name, but it was the only one he had since it _was_ Evice who made him, after all. The clerk nodded and typed it into her computer. After a moment, she paused and frowned in confusion.

"Are you sure you want to start a new account for him? Our records show he already has an account with us." the woman told Rui. The redhead blinked in astonishment. He already had an account? Why didn't Seth say anything about it?

"He does? Can you tell me when it was made?" Rui asked. The clerk tapped at her keyboard.

"May 31, 2140. Just a few months ago. Would you like a statement of the current balance?" the woman replied politely. Rui blinked; the date sounded familiar. She nodded in response to the question. The clerk tapped a few more keys and a sheet of paper was printed out. She handed it to Rui and the redhead looked it over, mouth dropping open in shock. "Are you sure you want to sneak money in? It looks like you should sneak some out." the clerk added with a teasing smile, "I didn't realize how wealthy your boyfriend was, but then the Evices were always very well off. So many successful ventures; I'm sorry to hear that the Cipher Corporation didn't do as well. Did he dissolve it after that scandal with the Shadow Pokémon?"

"How-? How did he get this much?" Rui whispered in shock. The clerk looked at her in confusion. "Ah, nothing. Um, thank you for your help. It seems I won't be needing to open an account after all." she said instead and bowed politely before hurrying out the building. Once safely on the street, she stared again at the paper in her hand. "345 million in savings? Where could... _how_ could Seth get that much money? And if he's had it all this time, why is he still living off of battle winnings?" she murmured dazedly, "That's almost half a billion dollars there! Where did it come from?"

So caught up in the astonishment of her discovery, Rui didn't notice the businessman from the other day walking towards her. She blinked at the sudden greeting and looked up in surprise. Apolo smiled down at her, a friendly expression on his face and that same strange cologne wafting around him.

"Good afternoon, Miss Rui. Fancy bumping into you on this street. Did you have business in the bank over there?" he asked politely. Rui blinked again as her mind went hazy.

"Um, yes. I was going to open an account for Seth, but he already had one." she mumbled and held out the printed statement, "See? But I don't understand how he got it, or why he's not using it. Everything would work out if he just used this money." Apolo plucked the sheet from her fingers and scanned over it, eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"Amazing! A Snagger richer than many of the families of Zirconia! He does seem to have many secrets and surprises, doesn't he?" he remarked in a thoroughly impressed tone. He handed the sheet back. "If he were to learn of this money, what would he do with it?" he asked. Rui looked down at the amount on the paper.

"Probably put a majority of it to terraforming Orre. It would make things a lot easier, since he wouldn't be relying on Raykyoudon so much for it." she replied softly, "I would be helping too. Together, we'll turn Orre into a new paradise for Pokémon." Apolo looked at her quizzically. It looked almost funny on him... kinda cute too. _"Not as cute as Seth, though."_ she thought to herself, trying to work her way out of her mental fog.

"Raykyoudon? I'm not familiar with that term. Could you tell me more about it?" the businessman asked in confusion. Rui opened her mouth a few times, but no words came forth. "Can't talk about it, huh? Is it so important to hold that knowledge to yourself that nothing in this world can pull it from you?" Apolo asked with a slight smirk. Rui nodded. "Any reason why?"

"Because I don't want the world to end." the redhead murmured back, "Because I don't want to see him get hurt." The dark-haired stranger seemed to consider that, tapping his fingers against his arm thoughtfully.

"I see. Raykyoudon is something that has the potential to destroy the world, correct?" he asked. Rui nodded again, sluggish and hesitant. "Why? What on earth could have that kind of ability? Is it a bomb? A weapon of some sort?"

This conversation was wrong. Rui knew that in her heart. But, something made her feel as though it was okay to talk about it. To talk about things that shouldn't be talked about. Seth wouldn't like this; he was still a private person, and she was lucky that he opened up to her like he did. But even then, there were still things he wouldn't tell her, like what his life was like as a member of Team Snagem, if he really did have any memories of being a child. This was bad. She couldn't talk about Raykyoudon, she just couldn't! But Apolo seemed so nice, so interested; maybe he could help Seth terraform Orre so he wouldn't be using Raykyoudon so much.

"It's... complicated..." she managed to say thickly, "It... works with... the elements... If it's used wrong... the world will be torn apart."

"Very hard to get through on that." Apolo mused aloud, "All right. You don't have to tell me then." Rui looked relieved. "You seem a little off today. May I invite you to have lunch with me?"

"Um, okay. Sure." Rui replied cheerfully and followed the businessman down the sidewalk towards the leisure region of the city.

* * *

_"So what does the e-mail say?"_ Jupiter asked during yet another of Seth's short stops towards Gyara Lake. The PDA had gone off during the transit and the Snagger pulled over to check it.

"Nett apologized for disabling the Kids Grid servers. Secc is trying something with them for some project she's working on. According to him, it should take a few years to get it going, but Orre will be able to access information whenever they need it." Seth remarked in surprise, "Also, there's talk of The Under moving out to Pyrite. They're going to do a mass evacuation of the Deep and The Under... and they want me to raise the earth below Pyrite to fill in the cavern!" The Eons yelped in shock, staring at him in disbelief. Seth sighed and shook his head. "Don't they know what that could do to Orre? That's a lot of land I'll be shifting... what if I make a mistake, and Pyrite is destroyed?" he murmured fearfully, "I could end up killing a lot of innocent people."

_"You can do it. Nature won't fail you. Nature wanted you to exist to do her work in a place where she can't reach."_ Pluto assured him, _"So don't worry about it now. How much longer till we reach the lake?"_

"A half day. We should make it by morning if we cut our night short." the Snagger replied and suddenly looked thoughtful, "Y'know, I bet I could refill that lake. It could help offset the climate and make it milder here. Lugia knows Mt. Battle's lava pool isn't helping, so I may as well balance it out." He revved the engine and grinned as he shot off again. "It'll probably cause some damage to Orre, but if Nature really wants to help me, then the region will survive. I'm going to fulfill so many dreams this way, Wes' and my own!"


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

This was the third morning since Seth left Zirconia City. Rui sighed and gazed out the window of her room, watching the people go about their business for the day. She didn't feel like going out, and her parents seemed to be easing back on pressing her into a rushed marriage. Left to her own devices, Rui pulled her PDA out and opened it. Like Seth, she had gotten an e-mail from Nett, apologizing about the server going down. Luckily, the GPS system came back online, and she comforted herself by watching the green blip move across the map of Orre. Why Seth would be out in the middle of nowhere was beyond her, but she trusted that he knew what he was doing and left it at that.

She sent an e-mail to him, telling him about Flannery's kidnapping, the discovery of his secret bank account, and the strange man that seemed interested in learning about him. She smiled and blushed faintly as she added in an 'I love you' before sending it off. Maybe he would reply to it. Maybe he'll come back once he learns about his new funds, and whisk her away to a beautiful wedding fantasy.

Rui imagined it to take place in front of the Relic Stone. It would wash away bad memories of that place and replace them with happy ones. And Seth seemed to love the forest as much as he loved the desert. It would be perfect for a wedding!

She checked the PDA again and was a little disappointed to see that there was no reply, and although Seth did stop in the desert, there wasn't any sign of him turning back. Well, all in good time. There was a knock at her door and she called out towards it. A maid entered the room and bowed politely.

"Ms. Roane, you have a visitor in the front room who wishes to meet with you." the maid reported. Rui got up and followed the maid down to the room. Apolo stood there, chatting with her parents cheerfully before noticing her entry. The maid bowed again and left as Rui blinked at him in confusion. Again, her mind began to cloud over at the scent of his cologne.

"Hello again, Miss Rui. I hope you don't mind me just popping in for a visit." Apolo greeted and nodded to her parents, who looked oddly pleased and full of adoration for the businessman in his soft gray suit. "Your parents have told me many wonderful things about you." Rui looked towards them in a daze.

"Oh?" she murmured softly. Apolo nodded and reached out, taking her hand in his. Almost immediately, alarms began to ring in Rui's mind. This wasn't right; there was something very wrong with this. Her brows furrowed in confusion as she watched his fingers twine with hers.

"I'd like to take you out to breakfast, if you like. I do so love our conversations. They're so refreshing and cheerful. My stay here is made ever so much brighter because of you." Apolo murmured. Rui's parents nodded eagerly.

"Yes, do go with him, dear!" her mother encouraged, "He's such a nice man! So perfectly perfect and such a charmer!"

"We could be the first to have connections to a corporation based in the Sevii Islands. Rui, this is a match made for you!" Roane agreed brightly, "Think of it! You'll be living in an island paradise!"

"But I want to make Orre... a paradise..." Rui mumbled as Apolo began to lead her towards the door. The faint warning in her mind was fading now. Seth wouldn't like this, but Seth was gone and she seemed safe. Apolo was nice, he wouldn't hurt her. It was just for a little while.

She would only be gone for a little while. Seth would never know. Seth... didn't need to know...

* * *

The speeder blazed onto the lake bed, rushing towards a sleek black jet that stood on the sands, wide blades instead of wheels supporting the weight of the plane. Red stood at the bottom of a set of stairs leading into the jet, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. Seth pulled up to him and rubbed his head as he muttered out an apology. 

"You're late. I've been here for an hour, waiting." the older trainer grumbled. The Snagger opened his mouth to give him a sharp retort, but was interrupted by one of the Eons.

_"We would have been here sooner, but Seth just **had** to finish up his little wet dream about Rui."_ Jupiter replied slyly, grinning as the Snagger turned a deep shade of red and turned to hiss at him.

"Sh-shut up!" Seth stammered out, face flushed with embarrassment as Red cracked a grin and shook his head.

"I needed a laugh. Well, c'mon." the trainer remarked and waved his hand at the rear of the jet. It opened to reveal a ramp leading into its belly. "Load the speeder in there. We don't have much time." Red added shortly as he headed back up the steps. Seth nodded and drove the speeder up the ramp, watching it close behind him as he parked again and let the twins jump out of the sidecar. Ignoring the mail alarm of his PDA for the moment, he and the two Eons walked through a nearby door into the body of the jet, passing a small kitchen, study and workbench.

Puzzled by the strange accommodations onboard, Seth lost track of his path and bumped into a figure. He jumped back, startled by what he had done.

"Agh! Sorry..." he began and blinked as the Eons suddenly growled.

_"Seth! That's...!"_ Jupiter began as the Snagger took in who he had crashed into, eyes going wide with shock, then narrowing in a fury.

"Ein!" he snarled as the scientist glared at him in annoyance. The man sniffed and walked aside to give him room to pass, then leaned against the wall of the jet as it began to move. Seth shifted to keep his balance at the vertical liftoff, but didn't move his gaze away from former Cipher scientist. "What are _you_ doing here? I thought you were killed when Indigo Stadium was destroyed!" he demanded.

"I wasn't, no thanks to you." Ein returned irritably, "Bloody ungrateful Pokémon..."

"Red!" Seth yelled angrily, "Why the hell is **he** here?" Red glanced back over his shoulder, unmoved by the surge of anger coming from the Snagger.

"Slave labor." he replied flatly and returned to piloting the jet. Seth scowled and looked back at the scientist for answers. Ein shrugged, spreading his hands out.

"Don't look at me. I was captured by this maniac a month or so ago." he growled, "He was after some information that I had and told me that I could either cooperate with him on it, or he'd kill me to stop my research. Guess which option I chose." He straightened his glasses and looked at him in appraisal. After a moment he clicked his tongue in exasperation. "You haven't been taking very good care of yourself. For a super-legendary, you look like a Pichu could pick you off." Seth shot him another glare and Ein shrugged again. "Be that way if it makes you feel better, but I'm not one to let my greatest creation just self-destruct." he remarked blandly, "Little arse..."

Before any of the three could react, Ein reached out and caught Seth's chin in his hand, lifting his face for a closer look. The Eons prepared to attack, but the Snagger made a quick motion with one hand to halt them. Ein wouldn't dare do anything to him, not while Red was in control. However, this didn't stop him from glaring up at his 'creator' with every bit of malice in his body. Ein only ignored it, studying his face with the cold detachment of anyone examining some base object. After a moment of scrutiny, the scientist nodded and released him.

"You've been starving yourself. Your cheekbones are far too defined and your reflexes have slowed. Also that coloring is far too pale for my liking." Ein declared flatly and headed towards the back of the jet, "Normally I wouldn't sully myself with fetching meals, but as long as you have all my data, I can't let you go all to pot." Seth blinked and looked down at his twins in confusion.

"What just happened?" he asked them. The Eons shrugged, equally as baffled.

"Get up here, Seth. I need to brief you." Red suddenly said and the Snagger hurried towards him, sliding into a seat by him. The older trainer glanced at him and grinned. "You look as though you've gotten over your fear of flying." Seth nodded.

"I kinda had to, what with Rayquaza's DNA in me and my having to learn to fly on those big wings." he muttered and made a face, "Doesn't mean I enjoy it, though." His face took on a serious expression. "So, what is it that you need my help for? And let me tell you, even if you weren't going to pay me, I'd still help. So, don't think bad of me, okay?" Red nodded briefly.

"Thanks. All right. Let me tell you what I know in a nutshell." the trainer remarked and frowned slightly, "I received an offering from the Hoenn League Elite Four to find a missing Gym leader." He paused at Seth's alarmed inhalation and nodded. "I know. Never good when Gym leaders go missing. I was hired to locate and retrieve Flannery, the Lavaridge Gym leader. She had disappeared shortly after Cipher fell at Realgam, four months ago." he went on, "My information and sources led me to a point in Kanto... and that's where my mission got personal.

"I have two half-siblings in Kanto, Ruen and Ruenna Lantine. My father... had a weakness for tragic women. Anyways, when I reached Kanto and did some digging around, I learned that my half-sister, Ruenna, had disappeared as well. That's when I learned that she and Flannery had been kidnapped; sources spoke of a charming gentleman that accompanied each of them up until their disappearances. No one knew who the man was.

"I continued following his trail, and it led me to Johto." Red paused and clenched one hand into a fist, teeth ground into a vicious half-snarl. "That bastard took Silver!" he finally hissed, "Witnesses say she left on a journey with a golden-tongued businessman and neither of them ever were seen again! He took Silver and Ruenna, and I will make him pay for every day they're not with me!" Seth stared at him in shock and the trainer calmed, the Pikachu that remained sullenly silent on his head snorting once.

"I can't believe something like that happened. I can understand the stupidity of Hoenn's leader, and the innocence of Kanto's trainer, but how can the Johto champion completely lose her head like that?" the Snagger blurted in disbelief. Red shook his head, sighing tiredly.

"To be honest, I have no idea. There were no signs of struggle at any of the last known locations for the three girls, so there was no fighting against their kidnapper." he murmured, "I just wonder why they would willingly walk away from their lives with that man. Why would Silver leave me...?"

Seth gave him a sympathetic expression and blinked as Ein suddenly appeared with a plate filled with food. He shoved it under the Snagger's nose and the smells nearly drove him over the edge. Without a word, Seth snatched the plate and dug in frantically, almost inhaling every morsel of meat and vegetable. Red scowled at the scene and shot a warning glare at the scientist.

"You have bad timing, Ein." he muttered.

"Oh bugger off. I can't have my data deteriorate in his head, y'know." the Englishman replied in annoyance and left them alone again. Red watched him leave, then turned to Seth again, waiting for him to finish eating before resuming his speech.

"I was able to track down where he's been hiding the girls, so I plan on going there and break them out. As a Snagger and thief, you could help me pull this off." the older trainer told him, "I'll tell you more about it when we get to the Sevii Islands."

* * *

Breakfast seemed nice; bland, but nice. Rui went through the motions of eating, not tasting anything she put into her mouth. She felt so detached, so calm. Her thoughts scattered almost as swiftly as they came, and never stayed to be analyzed carefully. There was a twinge of something about another boy and it would come often as she looked up at Apolo. He led her about the town, smiling at her gently and talking about random things, and all she could pin in her mind were brief glimpses of faded silvery hair and beautiful golden eyes. Her own gaze wandered the streets and people of Zirconia as Apolo herded her towards the edge of town. 

No one here had golden eyes. Where was the boy with the golden eyes? Where was her... what did she call him? Her mind wandered again and she didn't hesitate as Apolo murmured softly to her and pulled her towards a waiting helicopter. They climbed in and Rui sat in her chair, quiet and compliant as Apolo buckled her in safely. The scent of that strange cologne was stronger now, and her mind was spinning and spinning.

Rui glanced out the window as the helicopter lifted off. Soon now, the desert stretched below her as she was whisked away from Zirconia City towards the southeast. Her mind cleared for a brief moment. _Johto, Kanto lies that way_, some part of her alerted her, then fell silent.

There were strange flowers in the helicopter with her and Apolo. Rui looked over at the man, but he seemed alert and happy, a smile of pleasure on his face. She wondered why he was happy as she turned back to the window, gazing down at the sands of Orre.

Desert... prince? The fractured thoughts and memories of her mind began to piece together a little fantasy for her as she began to grow sleepy. A golden-eyed prince of the desert, the soul of Orre, riding forth on a metallic chariot belching fire and smoke, coming to sweep her away to his palace in the sands. Her vision blurred and she looked down at her hand. A teardrop glittered back at her, the last thing she saw before she slipped into dark dreamless sleep.

* * *

The trip on the jet was long and tedious. Seth rested on a narrow bed with the Eons curled up underneath it. Often, he tensed whenever Ein passed, but the scientist made no attempts to subject the Snagger to something or other. After a few hours, Seth stood and walked up to him. Ein lifted an eyebrow quizzically as he paused in the middle of reading a tattered notebook. 

"What now?" he muttered.

"You and Evice and all of Cipher took my childhood from me when you filled my mind with your data." Seth began darkly, "I want it back. Do you have a copy of that information?" Ein stared up at him for a moment, then began to laugh. Seth bristled, teeth clenching at the sound. "How dare you laugh at me!" he hissed.

"You're a blooming idiot." the scientist finally purred, "Really, you are. After all that you've been through, all the data you've pulled from yourself to read up on, you still don't get it." He smiled as Seth stared at him, then shook his head with another click of his tongue. "You never had a childhood, Seth. You were engineered and artificially brought to life. Our technology was used to accelerate your growth to make sure you would be strong enough to be used in the Earth Seal Project." Ein explained with cruel delight, "Because your DNA was so stable, we were able to continue accelerating your growth throughout the years you were in service to us. Eventually, we had to stop, lest you caught on to what was happening. The acceleration altered your sense of time, so you believed that more years passed than actually did."

"What are you saying?" Seth whispered, face turning pale at the confession. Ein smiled wider and spread his hands.

"You never had a childhood, because we forced you to grow from infant to child in a matter of months." he replied, "You see, by all calculations, you're really only about six years old. You only _look_ like a young man, but you're just a child who was forced to grow up." Seth stepped back hurriedly, eyes wide with horrified realization as he clutched the front of his shirt.

"You're _lying_! I'm eighteen years old; you gave me to Gonzap when I was seven, I was sixteen when I abandoned you all, I was seventeen when you kidnapped me for your stupid Earth Seal plot, and I just turned eighteen last month!" he shrieked as Ein shrugged nonchalantly, "You're lying to me! You destroyed my memories and nearly tore my body apart! _I'm eighteen years old!_"

"Seth! Get up here!" Red's voice barked a harsh command. The Snagger ignored him and suddenly grabbed the scientist by the collar of his shirt, fury rushing through him.

"You're lying to me, you English hack, and you damn well know it!" he snarled, ignoring the terrified look that replaced Ein's prior smugness, "You will tell me what you did with the records of my childhood or, by the Titans of the Elements, I will rip the earth from under your feet and seal you within the core of this planet!"

For a few charged moments, during which Pluto and Jupiter emerged from their seclusion to approach them both, teeth bared viciously and hackles raised, there was only the sound of Ein's whimpering and Seth's haggard breathing. Finally, a look of relief washed over the scientist's face and Seth felt a hand grip his bare shoulder tightly.

"Let him go, Seth." Red ordered softly. The Snagger ignored him again. The grip turned tighter, almost painful. "I said, let him go." Seth snarled again, an animal-like sound growing up from deep in his throat. "As the Chosen Master, bound to protect the Pokémon of this world until the day I die, I command you to release him, Raykyoudon." Red ordered harshly.

To Ein's surprise, Seth obeyed immediately, hands dropping away from him as his head bowed. The scientist hurried away, rubbing at his neck as he watched the two trainers.

"That's not fair, Red." Seth finally whispered, "When you use that power, I'm helpless. Nothing more than a slave to you. Is that how you treat a friend?" Red pulled his hand away and shook his head as the Snagger shot a look at him.

"That is how I treat a Pokémon who has nearly lost its mind. I use the Second Soul to pull it back from madness." he replied and turned back to the cockpit, "Now come on. We have another hour to go and we'll be at the islands. For the safety of everyone on board this jet, I'll need you to stay with me." The Snagger nodded and followed along. The Eons snarled at Ein once more, then turned and darted after him.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

Rui awoke slowly and furrowed her brows thoughtfully. She'd had the strangest dream; some strange man in a gray suit and mysterious cologne had come to her house, spoken sweet words to her and then carried her away to a condominium in the islands. Pushing her blanket aside, she sat up and rubbed her eyes free of sleep, then looked around herself. She gasped as she realized that she was no longer in her room.

The walls were covered in paintings of deserts and were of smooth gray marble. Her bed was large and comfortable, with expensive linens and thick blankets. Her jacket was slung on a coat rack near the door, her pink boots set by it as well. There was a huge window to one side, beyond it was a beautiful view of the ocean as the sun was beginning to set over the water. All in all, it was a gorgeous room, but it wasn't hers and this certainly wasn't Orre. The closest shore to Zirconia was hundreds of miles away.

"Where am I?" Rui murmured and got out of bed, walking in sock-covered feet towards her jacket. She pulled it on, slipped on her boots and straightened her hair, tying it back up in her pigtails. She checked a full length mirror to be sure she looked all right, then slipped her hand into her pocket.

Her PDA was gone.

Startled, Rui searched her pockets again but found no sign of the device. Had she lost it somewhere? No, she couldn't have lost it. She took care of it, very good care of it. If she ever lost it, and someone picked it up, they could use it to find Seth, and that's rarely a good thing if he was being tracked by a stranger. Rui paused and took a calming breath, trying to think of what had happened. Her memories were hazy, and no matter how hard she tried to focus, nothing was coming to her that could help.

"Okay, I'm somewhere that's not Orre. I don't know how I got here, or what happened to my PDA." she began and her fingers flew up to her ears. Her earrings were still there, so Saturn and Neptune were still with her. "I still have my Pokémon, so I can battle if anything attacks me." she murmured in relief and looked around, "I'm alone, so I may as well try and figure out what's going on."

She went to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked and no amount of tugging budged it. Frowning, she ran her hands along the walls of her room. This place was built by a wealthy person, and being a rich daughter of Zirconia herself, Rui knew that the paranoia of the wealthy drove them to create secret exits in nearly every room of their homes. So she knew to search for places in the walls that seemed slightly off. After a few minutes, her palm ran over a slight crack that was well hidden by the pattern of stone meeting false stone and she pushed against it.

The secret door opened and she carefully looked out, blinking as she spotted a second girl staring back at her in shock and amazement. Rui smiled in assurance and waved at her before stepping through the doorway. The other girl stood quickly and backed away, a wary look on her face.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm lost and wondering if you knew where I am." Rui told the younger girl soothingly. The brunette looked at her skeptically, the expression enhanced by the low brim of her white hat. "My name is Rui Roane. I'm from Orre. What's your name?" Rui offered gently.

"Ruenna Lantine, from Kanto. My friends call me Leaf." the girl replied and gestured towards her own window, also overlooking ocean but without the sunset view. "We're in the Sevii Islands, Chrono Island by my guess." she added. Rui nodded slowly.

"Okay. May I call you Leaf, too?" she asked politely. Leaf nodded hesitantly and returned to brushing her long hair. "So, what are you doing here?" Rui went on, picking out a chair and sitting down.

"Not much. I tried to break free, but that goofball's goons just dragged me back." Leaf sighed irritably and set her brush down, "He took my Pokémon and my pack, so it's been tough sneaking out. Are you new?" Rui stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment and Leaf smiled grimly. "Yeah, I figured as much. Lady, you've been kidnapped. Wake up and smell the prison air." she laughed tersely.

"Kidnapped?" Rui squeaked, "Why?" Leaf gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"I was kidnapped because of my big brother. Apolo said so. He wants my brother to do stuff for him, so he's going to hold me hostage until he contacts him and gets his cooperation." she replied, disregarding Rui's gasp of horror. She shrugged again. "Why'd he take you?" she asked in return.

"I-I don't know. Apolo did this? But... he was so nice to me!" Rui stammered out. Leaf laughed again, the sound almost derisive to her ears. Were all Kanto girls like this? Were the people of Kanto really this cold?

"Lady, Apolo's nice to all the girls he kidnaps. You must have _something _juicy for him to spend almost a week in Orre to get you." Leaf replied as she lounged in another plush chair. Leaf's room was equally as gorgeous as Rui's own, but instead of paintings of deserts, there were snapshots and portraits of Pokémon and people Rui didn't know. Maybe they were Kanto natives? "So come on, Rui, tell me. One trainer to another, what do you have power over to be worth so much to the most powerful man in the Sevii Islands?" Leaf asked in friendly manner. Rui shook her head.

"I honestly don't have anything. I'm not very rich compared to hundreds of other girls in Zirconia, and I don't have anything political in Orre. The only one who has any real power in the region is Seth and he almost never uses it." she explained helplessly and gasped, "Seth! Oh no! If he finds out I've been kidnapped, he's going to be so upset! And there's no way he'll know where I am so he can save me!"

"Seth?" Leaf questioned and Rui nodded.

"He's my boyfriend. He's been trying to save up money so he could ask me to marry him, but while he was away, Apolo showed up and ohhh!" she moaned, "Oh, Seth, I'm sorry I wasn't more careful!" Leaf studied her carefully, eyes sharp and alert.

"You're the second redhead Apolo brought in. I guess he has a thing for red hair." she commented and Rui blinked at that. What a strange thing for her to say. She mentioned it and Leaf got up. "Well, come on. I might as well introduce you to the other victims." she returned and headed over to the wall opposite the one Rui walked through. Leaf rapped on it a few times, then pushed it aside, walking through with Rui following behind.

There was a third room filled with abstract paintings of reds, oranges and gold, and several snapshots of majestic volcanoes. The décor was similar to the previous two rooms. A tall girl with red hair tied up in a spiky ponytail split to resemble a large bow waved to them from her seat on her bed. She had on a black shirt with a red volcano printed over her heart and blue jeans. Leaf greeted her brightly and introduced Rui to her.

"Nice ta meet'cha, Rui! I'm Flannery, from Hoenn!" she laughed cheerfully and jumped off the bed to shake her hand, "I know, I know. You're probably wondering, 'Why is this girl so bubbly and happy when she's been kidnapped?', right?" Flannery grinned at Rui's stunned face and winked. "Because I'm a big girl and I know that I'll get out of this somehow! I'm not a Gym leader for nothing, y'know!" She sighed then and her enthusiasm seemed to escape for a moment, "Though this isn't exactly helping my self-esteem any. Sorry, but I'm trying to put on a good front."

"It's all right." Rui told her, "I'm just surprised to know that this is where you were this whole time. I e-mailed Seth about your disappearance when I found out and I wanted us to go and help find you." She smiled bashfully and spread her hands. "Looks like I found you, but not the way I wanted to." Flannery blinked at her several times and leaned forward to study her up close.

"Seth? _The_ Seth? From Orre?" she asked and Rui nodded, "Oh wow! So, you're _that_ Rui Roane! You two are famous in Hoenn!" Flannery laughed at Rui's astonished face and Leaf's confused one. "Leaf, girl, don't tell me you don't know about the great Rui and Seth! Those two helped save Hoenn, Johto and Kanto!" the young woman declared. Rui blushed as Leaf looked at her with a new appreciation.

"Really? I hadn't known that. I was helping out with the siege that started up in Vermillion City. So you were the girl that helped restore power to Kanto and saved Silph Co.?" she questioned, "How cool!"

"It's nothing really." Rui tried to head off the subject and looked around, "So are we the only ones who were kidnapped? Were you taken because you are a Gym leader, Flannery?" The woman nodded.

"Yeah. As part of the Pokémon League, I have the power to influence some votes in the League, and my badge acts as one of the passes to the Elite Four." she replied and sighed, "And as long as I'm stuck here, Apolo can have my position taken up by one of his underlings. He'll control who goes to the Elite and who doesn't."

"What will that gain him?" Rui asked. Flannery's ponytail seemed to droop as she looked glum.

"If he controls the entry to the Elite, he can have one of his subordinates make an attempt at the title of Hoenn Champion, and the power of the Hoenn Champion can override the Elite Four's power." she explained deprecatingly, "As the most powerful trainer in Hoenn, the Champion basically rules the League. And that's a lot of power wielded by a single person. There's checks and balances against it, of course, but if the Champion is a dirty sneak rules fly out the window against powerful Pokémon." Leaf went to the other wall and rapped again.

"There's someone else here, too." she explained and pushed open the wall, "Hey, Silver! Guess who joined us?" Rui's head snapped up and she stared in shock as the raven-haired Johto Champion stepped into the room, a sour look on her face.

"Silver!" Rui cried in shock and the other girl blinked in surprise.

"Rui?" she echoed with the same feeling and the two hurried to meet, hands clasping together in a friendly embrace, "What are you doing here? Don't tell me that creep caught you too!"

"Oh, Silver, it's been so long since we've last seen each other!" Rui blurted tearfully, "I didn't know you'd been kidnapped too! Yes, I got taken away by that awful Apolo! Oh, Silver, why is he kidnapping us?"

"For more power, why else?" the Champion muttered and sighed, running her fingers through her hair and securing her silver ribbon. "I had no idea what was coming when I met him. He wants to use my power as Johto Champion to control the Johto League."

"So why not get May from Hoenn to do the same?" Rui asked, looking toward Flannery in confusion.

"'Cause she's too well protected. Brendan's almost always with her, and she'll bolt if she thinks she's getting too friendly with another guy." Flannery replied, "Apparently, she had an experience where she nearly lost Brendan and doesn't want to repeat it." Silver nodded vaguely at that comment and picked out a spot to sit down as the other girls did the same. Rui felt her face grow hot at that. She and Silver knew why May was like that; her attempts to steal Seth away nearly cost her the relationship with Brendan. Flannery reached under her bed and pulled out a bag of chips, opening it up and passing it around after munching on some.

"Hey, when'd you get chips?" Leaf asked in surprise, grabbing a few of the snacks and passing the bag on.

"One of the servants asked what I wanted for lunch and I told him to bring an extra bag for later." the Gym leader replied and looked at Rui. "So what power do you have?" she asked.

"Like I told Leaf, I don't have any power or influence in Orre. I don't know why Apolo wants me." Rui protested between snacks. Silver frowned, a pensive expression on her face. Flannery munched away and licked her fingers clean as Leaf puffed and waved her hands over her mouth; the Gym leader liked spicy chips.

"Oh, come on! There has to be something super special about you!" she urged, "Does your family have a really valuable company or something?" Rui shook her head. "What about relatives? Do you have any famous relatives?"

"My grandpa was a very strong trainer when he was young, but he retired and lives in Agate Village now." she replied and Silver's face darkened slowly.

"What about that Seth guy? Your boyfriend?" Leaf suggested once the spices wore off on her, "Is there something about him that Apolo might want to control? Like, is he part of a company, or a political group, or is he an Orre Champion?" Rui shook her head evasively, then paused.

"Wait... I remember I was checking on something for Seth, and I was thinking about what he was doing to terraform Orre with his Pokémon, and then Apolo was there, and..." she began to murmur. Both she and Silver suddenly gasped loudly and stared at each other in horror, "That's it!" Leaf smiled in triumph.

"Ha! I knew there was something! So what about your boyfriend will make Apolo powerful?" she crowed, "C'mon, Rui, it can't be so bad! He got me for my brother; he got you for your boyfriend! It's the same!"

"Not good, not good at all!" Rui moaned as she clutched her head, "He said if anything happened to me in Zirconia while he was gone, he'd wreck the city! If he finds out I'm gone, he could do so much worse!" Silver shook her head fiercely.

"No, he won't! C'mon, Rui, you've got more faith in Seth than that!" she scolded, "Pull yourself together! He's a level-headed kind of guy; he's not gonna trash Zirconia just 'cause you got kidnapped!" Both Flannery and Leaf looked between the two girls in confusion.

"Um, this Seth dude really that loco upstairs?" Leaf asked carefully, "He'll trash a city just over one girl?"

"He'll do it for me!" Rui wailed almost hysterically and looked at Silver frantically, "You don't understand! He's already under a lot of pressure! He's stressed out right now!" She shook her fists excitedly. "This could be what breaks him! The world's doomed!" she babbled. Silver grabbed her hands and held them still, glaring at the girl.

"Calm down, Rui! You're not making sense." she told the redhead evenly, "Seth is not going to destroy anything; he promised all of us that he would use his power to help Orre. He promised _you_ that he would never hurt you." Rui hiccuped, tears streaming down her face. "So, why is he stressed out now? There's no Cipher."

"He-he's trying to r-raise money to m-marry me!" Rui cried through the hiccups, "B-but my parents are m-making it h-hard for him and b-because of it... he-he's not eating right!" Silver stared at her in shock. "So he's been weakening and getting weaker every day. And that makes... y'know... kinda take over to compensate and... y'know..." she finally trailed, eyes flicking over to the other girls hesitantly.

"I know. You e-mailed us all about it." Silver murmured, "Rui, listen. Even though he's weakened, even though he's stressed, Seth will never unleash that on the world." She smiled gently then, calming the redhead further, "Besides, he'll keep his cool as long as he's in good company! Seth almost always has it together!" Flannery raised an arm in confusion.

"Me and Leaf are lost. What's going on?" she asked as Leaf blinked and frowned at the idea of being left out of something. Rui pulled away from Silver and gazed down at the floor, a sadly thoughtful look on her face. Would it be all right to tell them? Would Seth forgive her for telling others what he was? The damage had already been done with Apolo; she'd been kidnapped probably so he could have control over Seth's Pokémon powers. Would telling these other girls make it worse?

"Okay, I'll explain what I can. Silver can help, 'cause she knows about it too." Rui finally murmured in resignation, "Seth is more than just a Snagger, a thief of Pokémon, and there's a very good reason why he can't be forced under anyone's control..."

* * *

"Will you _please_ chain him down or something?" Ein complained to Red after spending an hour quailing under the onslaught of Seth's vicious glares. The Snagger never seemed to blink, and those golden eyes always following him around in fury was enough to make anyone snap. "I feel as though the blighter's gonna kill me if I so much as look away from him!"

Red glanced back at the scientist as he sat in the cockpit, waiting for the sun to fully set for the first sweep of the island. Seth sat beside him, but had turned in the seat so he could glare over the back of the chair at Ein. Jupiter and Pluto sat on either side of it, snarling periodically. They had been like that ever since Red landed the jet on Three Island, known also as Kin Island.

"Whose brilliant idea was it to utterly crush Seth's hopes of having a normal childhood?" Red asked calmly. Ein scowled at him.

"Don't look at me! I was merely told to do my job and I did a bloody good one!" he snapped back, "It's not _all_ my fault young Mr. Evice over there is in need of therapy!"

"Don't call me 'Evice'." Seth muttered, the first words he spoke since being ordered to the cockpit earlier.

"I'll call you whatever I want to, you arse; _I_ created you!" Ein shot at him. Red sighed irritably and scowled at them both.

_"Can I please shock one of them?"_ Pikachu grumbled. Red sighed and finally stood up, tapping Seth on the shoulder in passing.

"Night's fallen. Let's go." he told the Snagger and opened the hatch to descend from the jet. Seth huffed indignantly and followed him, the Eons tagging after. Ein scowled after them and sulked in his chair.

"Bloody ungrateful Pokémon..." he growled under his breath.

The island was quiet and calm; everyone was asleep and the only sounds were those of wild Pokémon actively searching for food in the brush. Red and Seth walked silently through the small town on the island, looking all around them. After a few minutes, Red stopped and pulled out the MasterDex, a highly modified PokéDex he used in all his mission. He opened it and tapped at a few buttons, then looked down at his Pikachu.

The electric mouse was wearing another of Red's gadgets, a harness laden with sensors and a single pulsing blue light on one side. Pikachu shrugged his shoulders, readjusting the harness for better comfort. He tapped a paw on something and the screen of the MasterDex lit up with a soft glow.

"Okay, here's the situation." Red told Seth, "As far as I can pinpoint him, the guy snatching the girls has a base here in the islands, roughly in the vicinity of the Kin, Floe and Chrono Islands. I couldn't get a better idea of the location because my long-range scanners got jammed. That forces me to use short-range sensor sweeps." He nodded down at Pikachu and the mouse returned it before dashing off into the distance. "Now, short-range is okay and all, but it puts me and Pikachu at a bit of a disadvantage." he went on, watching the screen, "It takes longer to scan buildings this way and if that guy is anywhere nearby and has the kind of equipment I think he does, then he'll pick up on me faster than I can find him. That gives him time to pack and run while I'm still lost."

"So where do I come in?" Seth asked, thankful that he had left Rui somewhere safe. It would not do well for his mental state if something happened to Rui; look what it did to Red!

"You can sneak into buildings undetected. You use low-tech equipment to breach high-tech security." the older trainer remarked with a smile, "Kind of impressive, really. So, I figured that while I'm searching around to locate this kidnapper's base of operations using sensors, you can snoop around inside buildings to try and find it yourself without tripping an alarm of any kind." Seth grinned and nodded, throwing the man a thumb's-up, something only done in the company of those he was most comfortable with.

"You need a professional thief for a job like this! I'm your man, then, Red! Jupiter, Pluto and I can easily cover this town in a couple of hours." he replied and began to run off. He was held back by a grip on the shoulder and Seth paused, looking back in confusion. Red had on a serious expression.

"This mission could be dangerous. Someone kidnapping powerful girls is after power himself, and probably holds a great deal of it already." he told the Snagger, "Be careful. You have someone waiting for you in Orre." He smirked as Seth's face turned a deep pink.

"I know. I won't let Rui down. All of this is for her... and for me, too." he mumbled and signaled the grinning Eons, "Let's go, guys. And don't look at me like that!" The three of them ran off, silent as the clouds overhead. Red watched them leave and shook his head, still smiling, though it was now tainted with sadness. He shook that off as well and turned back to watching the screen in his hand.

* * *

During his breaking and entering into homes and buildings, Seth and the Eons were able to catch brief glimpses of Pikachu, darting from point to point. The mouse would pause for a few seconds, then run off again. What exactly he was doing was beyond Seth, but it seemed to be his mission and that was all that mattered.

The rush of sneaking into homes in the dead of night, that exhilarating high that Seth always enjoyed, wore off quickly after the first few houses. He stopped in one to tap himself on the head and remind himself that this was a job. He was getting paid to break into these people's homes for the sole purpose of checking which might be holding the missing girls. What right did he have to be feeling so gleeful at his work when it could potentially harm these innocent folk later?

_"What's wrong? You don't look well. Didn't you eat before we got here?"_ Jupiter whispered to him as they padded through another home. Seth stopped and looked down at him tiredly, giving the Eon a half-shrug. _"Red and even creepy Ein are feeding you free of charge. Take the food and be glad for it. Raykyoudon can't keep sustaining you or you'll breach the division of your human self and your Pokémon self."_ he pointed out and looked around, _"Maybe you can grab a snack here. Pluto, let's go see what's in these old folks' fridge."_

"Jupiter!" Seth hissed a warning but the twins were already trotting off to the kitchen. He slunk after them and frowned as the Psychic-type pulled open the refrigerator door with his power. Pluto peered inside and smiled in the light of the appliance.

_"They've got a plate of leftovers in here, chicken and mashed potatoes. There's three pieces of chicken, so we all can get a piece."_ he reported softly, looking over at the Snagger as he stepped up to look in with them.

"I don't know. I told Rui I wouldn't steal anything. Does taking leftovers count?" Seth muttered, but he was already reaching in to collect the plate.

The meat and potatoes were cold, but otherwise filling, and both twins were happily gnawing away at the bones of their shares of the food. Seth finished off his portion and licked his fingers, grinning. Okay, so maybe just a _little_ stealing on his part was all right. If Rui didn't know, it would be okay. Besides, he'd leave a little something for the couple upstairs to compensate for the meal. It was only fair.

There was a notepad affixed to the appliance by magnets and additional smaller magnets decorated the door. Writing out a small thank you note, Seth tore off a sheet and pinned it to the refrigerator with a single twenty-dollar bill. The twins looked up at him in confusion, then shrugged it off. If Seth wanted to pay for what could have been a free meal, then so be it. It was his decision.

He set the empty plate in the sink and led the Eons out to the next house, leaving the old couple to experience a puzzling surprise the next morning.

There was a forest nearby the town, and after finishing his exploration of the village, Seth and the twins headed for it. Dark and peaceful, but lacking the mystical and mysterious aura of the Relic Forest, the Berry Forest was a maze of ponds and ledges that Seth debated over crossing. He could climb the ledges, but that took a lot of effort, and his slowly recovering strength would give out far too quickly. Swimming across the ponds would be less work, but he'd be soaked to the skin and he left his spare clothes on Red's jet. There was always the option of flying as Raykyoudon, but Seth was against transforming for anything less than dire situations, and the alternative always made his back itch...

"Damn it, now what?" Seth muttered, tapping his foot at the two real options he had before him, climbing or swimming. Jupiter trotted over to the ledges and pawed at one before agilely leaping from rock to rock to climb to the next level of the forest. He looked down at the Snagger from the top, tail swishing in smugness at his feat.

_"It's not too bad. If you find some good foot and hand stones to scale with, you won't burn as much energy."_ he called down. Pluto, on the other hand, made his way to one of the ponds and dipped a paw into the water. He shook it off after a moment and sniffed at the surface.

_"The water isn't too cold, at least not for me, and it's pure. It doesn't look very deep, so maybe you can wade through it? It's less work than climbing, but I can't see all the way across, so it might dip a few feet along the way."_ he reported. Seth sighed and shook his head; the choices still hadn't gotten any easier. Be dry and winded, weakened to the point of loosening his half-transformed self; or be wet and cold until he got back to the jet, forced to sit through Ein's lectures over treating himself horribly.

"That's great, guys, but I still don't know which to take!" he called out to them, "Jupiter, you're already up there; why not take a look around on your own?" The Espeon nodded and darted off, disappearing into the bowels of the forest. Pluto walked back to him, frowning.

_"Wuss."_ he commented under his breath. Seth scowled down at him.

"I am not! One choice will end up forcing me to grow those stupid blue wings and the other will have Ein on my ass faster than Gonzap on a bad day!" he shot back, "Since I can't handle this situation, let Jupiter do it!" Pluto snorted with a shake of his head, rings pulsing softly in the darkness.

_"You're still a wuss. Geez, the great Snagger of Orre, the super-legendary Weather's Master, is afraid of himself. Seth, you can be so pathetic sometimes."_ the Umbreon grumbled, _"I blame this sudden lovey-dovey emotional streak. It's making you weak."_ Seth flicked his fingers at the tip of one of Pluto's ears and the Pokémon shook his head again, annoyed with the gesture. _"Well, it is!"_

"I'm not weak; I just don't want to waste my energy on stupid crap, like you guys told me." the Snagger retorted, "And my love for Rui has nothing to do with how I use Raykyoudon... I just don't want to advertise to the world that Orre has a legendary of its own."

_"Sure, whatever."_ Pluto muttered as Jupiter returned with a bunch of berries held in his mouth by the stems. Leaping down from the ledge the same way he climbed, he dropped the bunch of colorful and strangely shaped berries and smiled up at Seth.

_"There's nothing artificial up there, but there were tons of berry bushes and trees! I grabbed some that looked ripe."_ he explained as Seth collected the items and examined them.

"They are. Some of these are good for battle and they'll be useful in replacing the items I sold in Phenac. Thanks, Jupiter." he murmured and put them away carefully. He picked out two after a moment and tied bits of string to them before slipping the thin nooses over each Eon's neck. "Just in case." he told them with a grin, "Jupe, you've got a Chesto Berry, and Pluto's got a Cheri Berry." He stood then and headed for the exit, "Come on. Let's get back to the jet and report in. I hope Red had better luck than us."

* * *

Apparently not. Red and Pikachu didn't look very happy as they sat in their seats, the jet well hidden in a copse of trees on the northern edge of Kin Island. Ein already had a dinner set out on a small table and was currently sitting on a nearby cot, head drooping at odd times as he tried to stave off sleep.

"No signs of anything, huh?" Seth asked the older trainer as he headed for the plate of food. The snack from earlier was a drop in the bucket; Raykyoudon demanded complete satiation and the Snagger fell to the dinner in an instant. Ein's head lifted at his voice and he drowsily looked over at him. Red turned back to scowl slightly.

"Everything came up clean. There are no high technologies in the vicinity and there weren't any DNA readings for Silver, Ruenna or Leaf. We'll go to the next island tomorrow night." the trainer told him and turned away again.

"You... didn't hurt yourself anywhere... did you...?" Ein mumbled out, sleepy eyes narrowing slightly. Seth gave him a disdainful look as he pushed the cleaned plate away and the Eons sought out a resting spot.

"Peh, you doubt my skills. Still yearning to get your precious Shadow Pokémon data back? Well, you're not getting it from me!" he growled in reply. Ein frowned and sniffed in indignation.

"Bloody ungrateful Pokémon..." he muttered again and then drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

Morning on Chrono Island was quiet and peaceful. Rui got up from her bed and blinked at the servant standing by the foot of the bed. He bowed politely upon seeing her.

"Good morning, Miss Roane. What would you like for breakfast?" the servant asked. He smiled then. "And please refrain from asking me for help escaping this place. Mr. Seusur went through a lot of trouble to bring you here as an honored guest. I couldn't possibly deny him your company." he added. Rui frowned, cheeks burning angrily.

"I'm not eating anything from you or Apolo! I demand that you let me and the others go!" she yelled, "Take us back to our homes and our lives!" The servant bowed again.

"I will deliver your message, but you must order something. It's not good to start the day without a proper breakfast." he only remarked. Rui scowled and folded her arms over her chest stubbornly. The servant sighed and left the room with another polite bow.

It was sort of like how Seth had been treated, back when Sera, Gonzap and Ein had kidnapped him to use in the Earth Seal. Seth had told her all about it, an irritated look on his face as he described his 'prison'. They put him a gorgeous room of white marble and gold, treated him as though he were the very pinnacle of royalty, all in attempts to win him over and lure him back to Cipher. He talked about his experiences, face growing dark with anger, then suddenly he seemed to break and Rui had been startled when he suddenly turned and hugged her, burying his face in her shoulder as he sobbed. After a moment, she returned the embrace, murmuring softly as she rubbed his back. He pulled away after a few minutes and rubbed at his eyes. Seth didn't talk about it anymore after that.

Now she was in this same situation. Whatever Apolo was trying to get from her, he was obviously attempting to have her willingly give it to him by treating her like a princess. Well, fat chance! If Apolo was after her to get to Seth for _any_ reason, then she was going to make sure she put up a huge fight!

Or better still, she could escape!

Rui checked her earrings and smiled. Neptune and Saturn stayed with her, probably because the regions knew she didn't carry any Pokémon on her. And it helped that she disguised her two companions as earrings; her talent for jewelry crafting came in handy so many times before. With them, she had a chance of escape. She just had to get her friends out, too.

She knocked on the secret door that connected her room to Leaf's and then pushed it open, peering inside to see if she was up already. The Kanto trainer was indeed awake, picking at her food with a glum expression. Concerned for her friend, Rui walked in to sit by her.

"What's wrong, Leaf?" she asked and the brunette sighed heavily.

"I guess I was wrong about Apolo." Leaf replied, "According to the servant who brought this, he had already contacted my brother a couple of days ago. Sent him off with some mission or something." Rui gave her a sympathetic look and hugged her.

"It's okay. Your brother will be fine and I'm sure he'll find a way out of whatever errand Apolo sent him on." she assured her, "I don't think I learned your brother's name, though." Leaf rubbed at her eyes and straightened her back, trying to regain her composure.

"Well, I have two brothers, actually. There's my twin brother, Ruen, who's probably panicking somewhere near Saffron City, 'cause that's where I was when I was kidnapped. And then there's my older half-brother, Ash Ketchum, who visits me and Ruen every now and then to help train us." she replied and looked a little bashful, "He used to be the Kanto Champion, but the rumor goes that he had some kind of accident at the Indigo League one year and just vanished after that. No one's really been able to keep track of him since then, so most people assume he's turned reclusive." Rui stared at her and the other girl noticed. "What? He's actually a nice guy, he just acts a little weird in public." Leaf added defensively.

"I know him! I know your half-brother! He goes by the name of Red, doesn't he?" Rui blurted in shock. Leaf looked thoughtful, eyes rolling up as she pondered it.

"Oh, yeah. That's right; he hates being called Ash. I always found that kind of funny. He told me and Ruen his name was Ash Ketchum, but then he told us to call him Red instead because he didn't want strangers to know his real name." she remarked, "It slipped my mind, I guess. Anyway, I thought it was super-cool to be related to the greatest Pokémon Master Kanto had ever seen. But, that's what got me into this mess, too." She picked at her plate again and frowned, then lifted the plate and offered it to Rui. "You want the rest of this? I lost my appetite when I heard Red got sent off to Orre."

"Orre? Why would Red be sent to Orre?" the redhead asked, accepting the plate absently and then staring down at the thick cut of steak and fried eggs in confusion. Leaf flipped a hand almost dismissively.

"I dunno. From what I learned in school, Orre's a big desert with no wild Pokémon, almost no water, and too many criminals for a tiny police force to deal with." she remarked blandly, "Though Pokémon battles over there are reputed to be as tough as Kanto-ruled battles, the system has been weakening lately; it's as though the Pokémon of Orre were all suffering from some kind of lethargy." Rui picked at the plate as well, chewing on a piece of meat and wincing at the words.

"Well, things have been a little rough lately..." she began and the door to the room was unlocked. Both girls stared at it as a servant opened the door and stepped in, bowing politely.

"I had thought you'd be in one of the other rooms." the man remarked to Rui, "If you please, will you follow me to see Mr. Seusur? He would like to speak with you about certain matters." Rui scowled and got up, setting the plate aside.

"Fine! Then I'll personally tell him to let us all go! He can't have us girls trapped on this Lugia-forsaken island just so he can steal away what power we might have!" she declared haughtily and turned to Leaf, "I'll be right back. Don't worry, I'll be okay." Leaf blinked in surprise as Rui composed herself and walked out the door, following the servant who only bowed to them again before shutting and locking the room once more.

* * *

Apolo stood near the center of a lavishly decorated room, two vast windows making up half the walls and allowing him an expansive view of the ocean. Rui looked around uneasily as she walked into the room and stopped a few feet from the businessman as he gazed out at the water.

"The Sevii Islands are quite beautiful during the summer. So vastly different from the tortures of Orre. Wouldn't you agree, Miss Rui?" Apolo finally remarked, not bothering to turn around. Rui stiffened in irritation.

"I _love_ Orre, Mr. Seusur." she sneered his name, "These islands are pretty, true, but it pales in comparison to the hidden beauty of the Orre desert." Apolo turned to look at her then and smiled slightly.

"Touché, my dear. I've not been in the desert long enough to see what you see. To see what... Seth... sees." he murmured and Rui turned red with fury. So! He really was after her boyfriend! But for what? For the Snag Machine Alpha on his arm? The device capable of capturing any Pokémon in the world from their trainers, as it held a Kanto Master Ball hidden within it to copy the perfect capture ability? Or was he after the untold millions in his secret account, money given to him by some unknown benefactor on the sly? Maybe, he was after the power to control Orre's terraforming project, thereby forcing the entire region under his control.

"Seth sees beauty there, too. He's lived in the desert all his life, and there's nothing he can't do when he's on native territory!" Rui shot back hotly, "I don't know what you're up to, Apolo, but you're not gonna get anything from any of us! Let us go! Silver and Flannery and Leaf and me; we demand you let us go!" Apolo shrugged.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You're all very precious and important to me. My treasures of the world." he remarked and sat on a plush sofa, motioning to Rui to have a seat herself. The furniture was all beautiful and elegant, arranged to create a circular form in the room. A glass-top, oval table sat in the center and there were two soft couches around it. Apolo sat on one, and there was another sofa opposite him. Rui chose to plunk herself down on the couch across from him.

"You're a mean person, to be snatching us away from the people we love and who love us back." she lectured, cheeks burning angrily, "We're not little trinkets for you to collect and keep forever!" The dark-haired man smiled at that and sat back, tapping his fingertips together.

"But in a sense, you are." he commented, "Each of you has a special title I came up with that perfectly describes who you are and what you possess that makes you so... desirable." He tapped a fingertip thoughtfully on his bottom lip and then pulled it away. "The little one. Leaf, you called her?" Apolo remarked, "She is the Flower of Kanto. Such a pretty little flower-bud who will one day blossom into a beauty such as none have seen before in that region. Her strength and connection is to that Kanto Champion, He Who Shares The Darkness."

"Strange titles you've given Leaf and Red." Rui commented flatly and blinked as Apolo gave her a surprised look.

"Oh, you know him too?" he questioned and smiled brightly, "My, my, you have so many secrets and surprises, dear Rui. You are such a delight!" He shrugged. "Then there's that Johto Champion, the Treasure of Johto. Silver is a precious metal, as well as the name of a beloved trainer. The whole region will do anything to have her returned, and I intend to have command of the Johto League, The Council Of Nature, to further my strengths and fund my company." Rui scowled at him, aggravated by the train of thought.

"Then there's that Gym leader from Hoenn." Apolo went on, either not noticing Rui's glare or ignoring it, "The Fire of Hoenn. She's young, but passionate about what she does. An inspiration to many aspiring trainers and leaders. Through her Gym, I will gain control of the Hoenn League, The Council of the Island Nation. It will take longer than if I had whisked away their Champion, the Legend Tamer, but it can be done." He paused then and looked a little puzzled as his gaze returned to Rui's face. "You, however, are a rather crafty and enigmatic young lady. Though your title is well put, the Soulful Eyes of Orre, your connection is an enigma wrapped in lies and buried in mystery." he went on at last. Rui stiffened again, chin tilting in defiance.

"You're talking about Seth, aren't you?" she growled. Apolo nodded and spread his hands helplessly.

"He's a rather interesting person, if you don't mind me saying, but there's so much he wields that I'm not sure what title to give him. If I had control of him, there are any number of ways I could use his connections. But where's the fun of it if I can't give him a proper title?" he complained, "So, please, Rui, can you tell me what his most powerful trait is? What he holds that will grant me the greatest power Orre could possess?" Rui folded her arms over her chest and huffed.

"You think I'd tell you? No way! And you'd better take me back before he finds out you took me and the others, or you're _really_ gonna get it from him!" she snapped. A flash of displeasure crossed the man's face, replaced by an innocently disappointed one. He sighed a bit and sat forward, propping his cheeks on his fists and resting his elbows on his knees. He gave Rui a puppy-eyed look.

"You're making this a bit more difficult than it has to be, Rui. You're a sweet and kind young lady, with a radiance that outclasses the sun. Out of all the girls I've brought here, I like you best of all." he confessed and smiled shyly, "There's only a few years difference between us; if we got to know each other better, do you think you could return my feelings?" The redhead stared at him, color draining from her face.

This... couldn't be happening! At the worst possible time, from the worst possible person! Her heart belonged to Seth; how dare this stranger kidnap her and then claim he had feelings for her as well! No, absolutely not! She would never give in to this creep and she would do everything she could to escape with the others and this guy would never lay a hand on her **or** Seth!

She was going to marry her Snagger and that was that!

"No! Never! I love Seth! We've been through everything together! We stopped Cipher three times and we saved the world! You're **not** taking me away from him and you're **not** taking him from **me**!" she raged, jumping up from her seat, "You can sit here and rot with your precious power and stupid titles, but I'm not going to have any hand in it! Seth and I will protect Orre with our lives and nothing you do will ever hurt it!" The older man blinked at her and cocked his head, puzzled.

"How odd. I believe you said something about Seth having connections with Cipher, correct? Would he still retain that power, despite the loss of the corporation itself?" he asked. Rui shrieked wordlessly and clawed at the air in front of her, wanting so badly to tear into the businessman that played games with her mind and heart. "Please don't do that, Rui. It doesn't become your lovely face when you do that." Apolo told her gently. "If you don't want to tell me, that's all right. I'll find out on my own how I can use Seth." He waved to the servant still standing by the door. "Take her back to her room and bring her a nice brunch. It's too early for lunch and too late for breakfast, so some sandwiches will have to suffice." he ordered and got up, turning back to watch the view.

"You will never use me to get him! I won't allow it!" Rui snapped and turned, storming after the butler as they left the room.

* * *

He wanted to hold onto sleep a little longer. Such pleasant dreams, about Rui and himself, about a home in the desert, about showing her all the secret caverns he had discovered filled with twisting, beautiful stalactites and stalagmites... Why was sleep fading away from him like this?

And why was there something messing with his leg?

Seth cracked open an eye and glanced towards the source of the irritation, then awoke with a furious yell as Ein continued wrapping his lower leg in gauze.

"What the hell are you doing? Get away from me!" he snapped and received a thump to the head. Red glared down at him from where he stood by.

"He's tending to that leg of yours; don't be so difficult. I would have done it myself, but I was busy getting breakfast together." the older trainer told him and turned back towards the small kitchen, "It'll be done soon, so just chill out already!" Seth watched him leave, then shot another glare at the scientist who only matched it.

"Who said you could do that anyway? I can take care of myself!" he growled and the Eons crawled out from under the bed to mimic him.

"You little arse." Ein grumbled, "You've been walking around all this time on a fractured leg. It's only a small one, easily mendable, but it's a bother for me when you insist on wrecking your body!"

"It's _my_ body and I'll do as I wish with it!" Seth yelled back, face flushing angrily, "If I want to smash every bone I have just for the fun of it, _I will!_ It's _my_ body!" The scientist snorted and shot him another glare.

"Not when _my_ research data is still in your head." he growled.

_"I will never give you the Shadow Pokémon research data!"_ Seth shrieked, "I'd rather die than have you go around and torture other Pokémon with it!"

"I don't **want** the Shadow Pokémon data; I just want my notes." Ein retorted, scowling behind his glasses at the Snagger. Seth stared at him in disbelief. "What use do I have for it, really? Cipher is dead; we were both at Evice's funeral, remember? Though I suppose the Orre police will continue to claim that he is safely locked away in prison..."

"You expect me to believe that?" the Snagger growled. Ein shrugged and stood up, accepting a plate of food from Red as he returned to the room. "How will I know that you won't be sneaking something into my head if I so much as let you peek at the stored data?" he added.

"Let's not continue this conversation." Red told them firmly and passed a plate down to Seth before putting down dishes of food for the Pokémon, "It's late for breakfast, it should be lunchtime. Once we finish eating, we'll continue to stay in hiding. When night falls, we'll move to the next island." Seth finished his plate off quickly and dug through his pockets, pulling out the PDA.

If it was going to take so long to finish this mission, he should really send an e-mail to Rui to let her know he was okay. He smiled at the thought of being able to go back to Zirconia, flash a few bills at Roane and his uptight wife, then whisk Rui away to the desert. The thought of it made him feel warmly about the situation; he could bear it all as long as he kept Rui in mind.

"What's got you so chipper?" Ein questioned between bites of pasta.

"I'm going to marry Rui." Seth murmured softly, forgetting for a moment who he was speaking with. The scientist nearly choked on his food and Red thumped his back to help him swallow.

"_What?_" he shrieked and the Snagger blinked, then glared at him, "Are you off your rocker? What in blazes are you _thinking_? You can't marry that girl! You're a Pokémon!"

"So?"

"It's bloody disgusting! Sick, sick, sick!" Ein shouted. Seth's voice turned to a shriek.

_"Sick? **Sick**? You dare call my love for Rui '**sick**'?"_ he raged, "Sick is what **you** tried to do to me, turn me into some twisted living weapon! Sick is what Gonzap is in the _head_ for getting a hard-on out of beating me half to death! _Sick_ is Sera Evice, the woman whose DNA was used to make me _look_ human and was sister to Wesley, whose death was the **cause** of my existence, trying to find ways to corner me in a room and freaking **rape** the hell out of me! _**That**'**s**_ _sick!_" Red blinked at him in shock, then turned the gaping expression to Ein, who only stared back at the Snagger in stunned silence. "Don't you ever compare me and Rui to what you three had planned for _my _life, _my_ sanity, _my_ body!" Seth finally hissed, "I will not allow it!" The Eons looked up at him in concern, mouths full of food. Pikachu blinked, mouth open as a piece of food dropped out onto the floor.

"Sorry." Ein finally muttered. Seth ignored him, choosing instead to open the PDA and write a letter to Rui.

He was pleasantly surprised to find he already had a mail entry from Rui. Taking note of the date and wincing that he had ignored the alarm the prior day, he opened it up and began to read. For a moment, he wasn't quite sure he had the right mail. Had some glitch in the system sent someone else's mail to him? No, because it said clearly at the bottom 'I love you, Seth' and no one else in Orre would dare say that to him but Rui. But the letter itself... it made no sense.

"How did she know Flannery was gone?" he asked aloud, alerting the two older men to his words, "And who is this Apolo guy she's talking about? What the hell? What the hell makes her think I have a bank account full of cash? I don't; that's why I'm working!" Frustrated, he opened a reply message and began to tap at the keys with the stylus. He had to deal with Ein's craziness already; he didn't have time to figure out what Rui was babbling about. He stopped and sighed, deleting the message before he could finish it.

"Calm down. Don't take it out on Rui." Seth told himself and began a new message, "I'm on a mission with Red, trying to earn some money. I'm sorry I didn't answer sooner, I was kind of distracted. You've probably been keeping an eye on me with that little tracking option and noticed that I've wandered off the Orre map to the middle of nowhere." He paused, thought carefully, then went on tapping, muttering his letter to himself as the others returned to eating, "I'm okay, so don't worry. I'll be back soon to pick you up from your parents' place so we can get back to Phenac. I'm not sure what you mean by a bank account. I never made one. And if this Apolo guy bothers you, then I'll deal with him when I get back. Stay away from him if you don't feel comfortable near him. Red and I will get Flannery back, so just sit tight." He stopped again and smiled, turning a slight shade of red as he jotted down his final words. _"Love always, Seth, your Weather Master."_ The Snagger sent off the mail and tucked the PDA away before examining the bandage on his leg.

"Not bad." he admitted begrudgingly, "But it'll take more than a patch job to get data out of me." Ein only shrugged.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

The four girls convened in Flannery's room once Rui returned. Two were pressing for information, but the third was silent, watching the redhead worriedly. Apparently, Leaf and Flannery hadn't caught onto the fact that Rui wasn't in a good mood. So they chattered on, only gaining snippets of conversation from the sullen girl as Silver sat back and watched them warily.

"Okay, that's enough!" she finally declared and the three other girls looked at her in surprise. "Rui, things didn't go well with Apolo, did they?" Rui shook her head, the angry face she had entered with reappearing.

"No, he wants to keep us all like his little treasures. And we were right, he _does_ want to get to Seth using me." she growled, "Luckily, he doesn't know anything about him, so he's not sure what to do about him." Rui stood and picked the earrings apart, a determined expression coming over her face. "But I say we don't give him an opportunity to use any of us! I still have my Pokémon, so let's bust out and go home!" she declared and the girls leaped up with cheers.

"Yeah! That's the ticket!" Leaf whooped, "Let's go get our own Pokémon from wherever Apolo hid them and then make for freedom!"

"Shouldn't we have a better plan of escape? None of us knows the layout of this place and we don't know what kind of security it has beyond the guards that brought Leaf back when she got lost." Silver pointed out, "We have only one shot at this, so if we screw up, Rui's Pokémon will be taken away and we'll never get out of this by ourselves." She folded her arms over her chest with a grim expression. "If Red taught me anything useful in my life, it was to be prepared for _anything_. Since we've got a chance at escape, let's make sure we use it wisely and plan out exactly how we're gonna do it."

"You know my big brother?" Leaf asked in surprise, staring up at Silver. The Johto Champion looked back at her, equally surprised. She nodded and Leaf lit up. "So you're the one that Red says made him so happy! How cool!" she laughed, "I bet he didn't tell you about me and Ruen. That's okay; Red does that all the time!" The girls laughed at that and sat back down to plan out their escape, pooling together what little they knew about where they were and what the situation really was.

* * *

It was just past lunch when the alarm suddenly went off. Apolo sat up with a start, the thought of one or more of the girls trying another escape racing through his mind before realizing that this alarm was softer, less threatening and was coming from his desk drawer. Puzzled, the man relaxed and opened the drawer, blinking at the PDA unit that lay amongst the other Pokémon-related devices within. It continued sounding the alarm for a few seconds, then went silent. What was it for?

Apolo pulled the PDA free and opened it up, smiling briefly at the picture ID of Rui before picking out the stylus and studying the options on the menu. The mail option was glowing softly, so he tapped it first and watched a list of messages bloom onto the screen. They had all been marked as read, save for one at the top of the list that had just come in, a sealed envelope marking it as new. And then he saw the sender's name... Seth.

"Ah! The elusive little Snagger! What did he wish to send his beloved, **my** beloved?" Apolo mused to himself and tapped it open.

_"I'm on a mission with Red, trying to earn some money. I'm sorry I didn't answer sooner, I was kind of distracted. You've probably been keeping an eye on me with that little tracking option and noticed that I've wandered off the Orre map to the middle of nowhere._

_"I'm okay, so don't worry. I'll be back soon to pick you up from your parents' place so we can get back to Phenac. I'm not sure what you mean by a bank account. I never made one. And if this Apolo guy bothers you, then I'll deal with him when I get back. Stay away from him if you don't feel comfortable near him. Red and I will get Flannery back, so just sit tight._

_"Love always, Seth, your Weather Master."_

Apolo's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Well, this certainly made things easier. Not by much though. The Snagger was already on his way to Chrono Island, so easily 'delivered' to coin a phrase, but he had yet to identify his greatest trait. And a tracking option? There had been something labeled that in the default menu, so he'd examine that later.

But what was this about a Weather Master?

Cipher was trying to terraform Orre, but the project ended with Wesley's death. Seth was created to replace Wesley, but he destroyed Cipher and reinstated the terraforming project. He was using something called 'Raykyoudon' to do the work, but if used improperly, it could damage the earth. And now he's calling himself a Weather Master.

Was Raykyoudon a device built by the Cipher Corporation to manipulate the elements for the purpose of terraforming Orre? And Seth was the only one left of the organization who could access and control it? Was this his greatest power?

Apolo tapped at the tracking option when he returned to the main menu and gazed down at the green blip that appeared on one of the nearest islands, Kin Island. It remained fixed, probably didn't want to move in the daylight hours.

He smiled and thumbed the speaker on his desk, calling up another of his butlers.

"Bring the girls to me in the office. I'll be interrogating them." he ordered and slipped the PDA back into his desk. Carefully, he brought forth a small bottle of a clear liquid and a decanter of a deep blue liquid. Swallowing down a small shot-glass of the deep blue substance, Apolo lifted up the second bottle and proceeded to spray himself with the liquid inside. A little charm went a long way, but so did the potent chemical that made people so easily manipulated...

* * *

"Have I mentioned lately that you are a delight to be around?" Ein muttered sarcastically, fed up with the tiny bits of wadded paper that Seth tossed at him to relieve boredom.

"No, but it's nice to hear it." the Snagger replied with a grin, flicking another wad at him. The Eons snickered together; this kind of bantering had gone on since lunch and was the only source of entertainment on board the jet. Red and Pikachu glanced back at them once, just to be sure neither of them were trying to kill any other, then resumed their study of something obscure on the laptop Red had hauled out. Ein flicked back several of the paper wads, annoyed by the action, and promptly received another that stuck to the lens of his glasses.

"What in the-?" he murmured in surprise and scowled, "Bloody sick, Seth! You spit on that one!" The Snagger laughed aloud at the reaction and twirled a straw in one hand. Ein pulled his glasses free and carefully cleaned them off, grumbling under his breath. "Such a child..."

"Seth, knock it off." Red finally remarked, "If you're that bored, spend your time sorting through that information in your head and see if anything in it is useful to you."

"Or better yet, give me my notes. I didn't spend ten years' worth of research and development of Pokémon programming just to have it sit in your cockamamie head for all eternity!" Ein butted in irritably, planting his glasses back on his face just in time to have another spitball smack the lens, "Bloody hell! Stop that!"

"Accessing Cipher's database gives me a headache. Besides, Ein's more fun." Seth replied brightly and loaded another projectile. Red glared at him.

"Where did you get that straw?" he asked.

"Stole it." Seth answered easily and fired again, laughing as Ein yelled in a fury and waved his arms about, that Raikou-inspired forelock flailing erratically in the air.

"Put it back."

"No."

"_Seth..._"

"It's mine now. Stealers, keepers."

_"The wedding's gonna be fun if he brings that attitude to the altar."_ Jupiter remarked cheerfully and Pluto nodded emphatically.

For the next few minutes, Seth was happily engaged in turning Ein into his personal target for his spitball shooter. This quickly went downhill when, upon leaving for the bathroom and returning, he discovered that the straw now had a tight knot tied right in the center. He shot Ein an accusatory glare, to which the scientist only shrugged and gave a not-so-charming semi-innocent grin. Straw destroyed, there was nothing left for him to entertain himself with, so Seth tried to see what Red was up to in the cockpit.

"Will you find something _else_ to do?" Red growled, immediately pulling the screen down so he couldn't read what was displayed, "Something that doesn't bother either one of us? Go outside and play with the wind or something!" Seth winced and backed away, feeling the flicker of Red's Second Soul as it prepared to lash at him again with its control.

Sometimes, being a Pokémon sucked.

* * *

The town on Kin Island looked peaceful enough during the day, and Seth found himself drawn towards it out of curiosity. Would anyone register anything about the fact that, just a few hours ago, he broke into every single one of their houses? The twins tagged along with him, one on each side in bodyguard fashion, as they looked around at the few shops and open stalls that made up the commercial center of the village.

He could tell they stared at him, at his clothes, the machine on his arm, hell, even at his skin and the strip of zinc oxide on his face. Some slowed to watch him in confusion, others halted dead in their tracks and gaped with open mouths. This was getting annoying, and the smell of rain coming wasn't helping either.

_"They sell Poké Balls here for pretty cheap."_ Jupiter commented, walking up to one of the stalls, _"Hmm, not as cheap as Orre, though. Do they have more wild Pokémon here?"_ Seth joined him at the stall, eyed the display, then turned to the nervous stall manager.

"What wild Pokémon are on this island?" he asked and the manager seemed to almost faint with relief.

"Oh! You're a trainer! Geez, what a fright!" he remarked, "I thought you were one of those Kanto Rider Federation guys!" Seth raised an eyebrow at that and the manager shook a hand dismissively. "Never mind. Well, if you head to Berry Forest and do some fishing, you can probably get your hands on a Slowpoke or a Seaking. If you poke around in the grass, you've got a good chance of running into a Drowzee, but be careful if you flush out a Hypno. Those things are temperamental during the rainy season."

"Um, thanks." Seth muttered. None of those Pokémon sounded like something he'd like on his team, especially since he already had Jupiter to cover the Psychic aspect. "I'll take five of your Poké Balls. You wouldn't happen to know when it's going to rain, would you?" The stall manager dropped the items into a bag and set them by the register, ringing up the purchase.

"It's likely to hit Floe Island tonight or tomorrow, depending on the weather. Lucky Hoenn kids can toy with their weather just by calling up one of their top trainers." he replied with a slight hint of envy and looked at Seth with a sudden hopeful expression. "You wouldn't happen to have something like that on you, huh? Just to give us a hand in warding off the rain?" The Snagger brought his visor down over his eyes, collecting the bag and plunking down a few bills.

"No. I'm from Johto." he lied and the stall manager sighed in disappointment.

"Oh well. Looks like I'll be boarding up early after all. Well, thanks." he muttered and got back to work.

_"Entei-fire, these people are so gullible."_ Pluto commented with a snicker, _"They should be thankful they're even **getting** rain! When's the last time it rained naturally in Orre?"_

_"Couple of years ago, when we were still working for Snagem. Remember how pissed Seth was when he got shut out for three hours?"_ Jupiter snickered back and the Snagger made a face.

"Don't remind me. Gah, that was the most depressed I've ever felt in my life. And I was soaked to the skin. How the hell could that rainstorm have gotten past my jacket?" he grumbled and slipped the new Poké Balls into his pocket. "Let's check out the Center here and see if we can swap out the Jolteon. I don't want to have him around if it _does_ start to rain."

* * *

The four girls jumped, startled, when a knock came on the door and it opened, revealing another servant standing in the way. He bowed to them politely.

"You do seem to like gathering together." he observed, "Mr. Seusur would like to speak with all of you together. Please, follow me to the office." With that, he exited the room. The girls stood, looking at each other warily.

"You think we can take him? It's just one guy." Flannery murmured as they left the room. The idea was immediately dropped; there were two other men with the servant and neither of them looked like butlers. "Oh dear. Are those guns?" Flannery asked faintly, face losing color as she stared at the men's belts. Rui glanced around and nodded. She'd seen her fair share of weaponry just from hanging around Seth during the Shadow Pokémon crisis in Orre. She'd yelp once they started going off, but other than that they didn't bother her as much as they used to.

They followed the servant, flanked by the guards, towards the office. Walking into the room, it was almost as if they had stepped into some otherworldly dream. Rui recognized the scent of the strange cologne, but it was more powerful now and her mind was instantly covered in fog. She gazed around at her friends and they had on semi-vacant expressions, eyes dark and lidded as they pressed forward. It felt as though they were all walking through thick gel, and Apolo, grinning warmly at them, was moving far too fluidly for Rui's liking.

"Ah, ladies! So nice of you to join me!" he began brightly and gently led each girl to a seat on the couches, "I've been dreadfully bored today and I could use some bright chatter to lift my spirits." He himself picked out a chair, not too near them, but not too far either, and smiled. "Well, go ahead and talk about whatever pops into your heads. Forget that I'm here. I don't really have much to say."

The four girls looked at each other in confusion. Rui blinked and her mind wandered. Talk. She was talking about something. No, she was thinking about it. What had she been thinking about? What was it...?

"Guns." she finally pinned down aloud, "I'm not that afraid of guns. Except for when Sera shot Seth. She did it twice. I thought he was gonna die both times, but he didn't. They were just trying to drug him." Leaf made a face.

"Guns are bad. They banned them from TV for a while. So loud and noisy. I don't like them." she added, her words slightly slurred. Flannery jerked her head up from a droop.

"I was on TV once. They liked the nicknames I gave my Pokémon. The Name Rater said some good stuff about them." she threw in at random, "Said they'd live rich, full lives, or something..."

"What kinds of dishes do you like to cook?" Apolo suddenly asked. The girls blinked in unison, their thoughts scattering to latch onto the intruding idea.

"Red likes riceballs a whole lot." Silver remarked, "I make them all the time and he just scarfs them down like there's no tomorrow. Then he'd tease me and say 'What a wonderful wife you'll be. You can cook _and_ battle; you're too perfect to be real!' Then I'd punch him and he'd kiss me and everything would be cool." Apolo lifted an eyebrow at that. This was new; he hadn't known that Silver was engaged to Leaf's half-brother. Just by grabbing the Johto Champion, he had netted two powerful connections. Intriguing.

"I'm not good at cooking. I let Ruen do it." Leaf muttered as Flannery chirped out something about spicy food.

"Lots of things." Rui murmured dazedly, "I can cook a lot of dishes, but Seth does some strange ones. He made this one thing with meat that he cooked using hot rocks and it tasted kinda chewy and tough." She gazed at her boots, the pink filling her vision. "Seth eats a lot, but that's 'cause of Raykyoudon. If he doesn't eat, he gets weak and Raykyoudon tries to make up for it."

"Oh yeah, he beat Red in that eating contest, didn't he?" Silver laughed haltingly, "I never knew how much he could pack away and still not gain a pound. Such a thin guy, I thought he could snap like a twig any day."

"I thought it was because he didn't eat enough. But he says that it's because he doesn't want to have too much fat on him when he goes in the desert because it makes people hotter when they have on extra weight." Rui told her, "So they die quicker. But he never had to worry about it to begin with. He's got Groudon's DNA, remember? The heat and the sun don't affect him."

Apolo stared at Rui as she spoke. This was making no sense at all. From the sound of it, he could only infer that her Snagger boyfriend had somehow gained a Pokémon's strength to endure the harsh Orre climate. That could be explained away by training, but what about the claim that he had Groudon's DNA? What was that?

"What's Groudon?" he threw in, startling the girls again.

"I told you guys already." Rui whined, "It's the legendary Pokémon that made the land rise from the sea and warmed it up so it could grow plants! Its DNA is the strongest link in Seth, so he withstands the desert better than anybody."

"So if I surrounded him with Fire-type Pokémon, he wouldn't break a sweat?" Flannery asked in interest. Rui shook her head.

"He wouldn't even bat an eye." Silver joked, "He'll take the heat and fire it back. Or better yet, he'll do Earthquake and knock 'em all out. I've seen him do it. Killer!"

"Peh, Earthquake? Why not Water Pulse? He's got Kyogre DNA, right? Water beats Fire any day of the week!" Leaf declared. Flannery grinned.

"Not if I've got Sunny Day in action! That'll dry up Water-type attacks real fast!" she crowed triumphantly.

"You forgot about his Rayquaza DNA, Flannery." Rui added with a smile, "He'll simply seal the climate and none of your weather-altering moves will work. Why do you think the legendary Pokémon of the world call him the Weather's Master?"

"Oh, pooh! That's too much power for one guy!" Flannery griped, "If he's so powerful, why doesn't he snap his fingers and turn Orre green like he promised?"

"That would throw off the balance of nature in Orre." Silver pointed out, with Leaf nodding emphatically, "Seth would never allow himself to misuse his power, especially if it puts Orre or Rui in danger. He'd do anything for you, right, Rui?" The redhead nodded.

"He'd even die for me." she murmured, "And he'd do it without hesitation. Seth's so protective of me, he loves me so much. I never want anything to hurt him." She smiled slightly. "We'll restore Orre's greenness slowly, so it can get used to the changes and Seth can learn to use his power carefully. He's still so new at it."

Apolo only sat where he was and smiled. This was a great deal of information he had gathered and highly useful too. He stood and walked towards the redhead, taking her hand in his. Rui looked up at him in confusion, dazed eyes blinking slowly.

"Rui, dear Rui. My beautiful Soulful Eyes of Orre. I know what we should do to cement our relationship, to gain control of the regions of the world and make ungodly amounts of money and power." he whispered softly, "I'm going to marry you, sweet Rui, in two days. Once the rain of tomorrow passes, we'll be wed and all the power of Orre will go to me. With Silver and Red under my power, I'll take command of Kanto and Johto at once and then the might of the united regions will swoop down on Hoenn and conquer it in my name."

"No." Rui whimpered in protest, shaking her head. Apolo only smiled wider.

"You don't have much of a choice, my dear. I have the safety and security of this little fortress to ensure that our lovely summer wedding shall go smoothly." he purred, "So let's get you ready for the big day!"


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Those of you who come to this page, please listen. I am currently overloaded with several projects and I recently got a job at a local store chain that sends me out almost like a freelance agent to whichever shop needs my assistance most. My time is seriously being eaten up by these guys and I don't have much choice but to go along with it because I really need the money to pay my bills and debts. It may seem like I've been ignoring PC: UoS, but the fact is, I've been trying to work on it whenever my time is open for it. I want to get the next chapter done with the same quality I've always had in my stories, and rushing the next chapter to get it posted will very probably ruin it and not be as satisfying to read and write as the previous chapters. Please bear with me just a little longer. Thanks for listening.

* * *

Ch 10

For a moment, Seth wasn't sure he was hearing things correctly, so he asked the nurse again. Once more, in that same cheerfully patient voice, the nurse repeated her answer and Seth had the sudden urge to sink the island right then and there.

"You're telling me that I can't access my Pokémon storage system from here?" he growled out through tightly clenched teeth. The nurse just smiled sweetly at him.

"Nope, sorry! Our network connection isn't powerful enough to reach the mainlands, so if you came here from Orre, then you can only use the Pokémon that are in your current team." she remarked brightly, "Also, if you have a full team already, you won't be able to capture more Pokémon because they won't be able to be transported to your storage space."

_"The Sevii Islands suck!"_ Jupiter griped angrily as Seth stalked out the Center, _"This whole place sucks! We can't swap Pokémon, we're stuck living on a jet with creepy Ein, and we can't grab any new Pokémon, whether we catch them or snag them!"_

_"This place deserves more than a rainstorm. They need a hurricane. Knock some sense into their heads and make 'em hurry up with their network issues."_ Pluto agreed viciously.

"This whole thing had better be worth five million bucks." Seth grumbled under his breath and the image of Rui bloomed in his mind. He turned a deep shade of red and pulled the visor down again, ignoring the knowing snickers of the twins. "Okay, okay. She's worth all the crap I'm going through. Enough, guys." he murmured, grinning despite himself. He whistled and the two snapped to attention. "Let's get back. It's almost dinnertime and I could eat enough to beat the whole army in a contest."

"You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" Ein immediately asked upon his return to the jet. Seth glared at him pointedly.

"The only reason you ask about that is because I've got your precious data. Leave me alone." he grumbled, sour mood returning now that he was back in a place that was both boring and shared with one of the many people he had hoped he would never see again. He slumped into a chair and sighed in boredom. "Red, rain's coming. Expected to hit Floe Island by tonight." he announced and the older trainer looked at him.

"Are you going to do anything about it?" he asked and Seth scowled. "I was only asking. Pikachu doesn't like putting on the watertight gear."

"Does _everybody_ want me to use my power to screw with the weather! Leave it alone! Leave me alone!" the Snagger yelled and slouched back in the seat. Pulling the PDA free after a moment, he flipped it open and studied the inbox. After a moment, he blinked in confusion. Why hadn't Rui written back? She always wrote back when he e-mailed her. He tapped open a new message and began writing. "Rui, is everything okay? You haven't written back. Is something wrong?" he murmured mostly to himself and sent the mail off. "There anything made for dinner?" Seth finally asked aloud, glaring over at the scientist in the corner.

"Do I look like a chef? You've regained enough strength on your own, get your own bloody food!" Ein grumbled, scribbling away at something in his tattered notebook. The Eons shot him a disgusted look as they both got up and trotted towards the small kitchen.

_"Never mind him. We'll poke around and see what's here. When are we going to the next island?"_ Jupiter remarked.

"It's dark enough now." Red suddenly answered and Seth turned to watch him in surprise. The older trainer started up the jet and the Snagger felt his stomach lurch just a touch at the vertical takeoff. He may have gotten over the fear of flight, but that didn't mean the feeling of it was any less disconcerting.

"I hate flying." Seth grumbled under his breath and gazed out the window worriedly, "Rui, what's happening in Zirconia? Is something going on that I should worry about?"

* * *

Rui stared dully out her window at the ocean, watching the last few shreds of daylight die away. Her mind had cleared once she was brought back to her room, and the message from the servant that led her here had made her stomach drop, her heart sinking so far it could have fallen from the earth into oblivion. How could everything have been so wonderful just a few days ago, only to become so heart-wrenchingly horrible? 

"Seth!" she yelled at the window, yearning for her voice to carry out and float on the winds of the incoming rainstorms, "Seth! Find me! Save me, please!" The other girls were still in a daze, slumped in their beds as they tried to clear their minds. No one was around to help her, and without a plan she couldn't risk Neptune and Saturn.

Sobbing, Rui sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands. Apolo was ruining everything! All because he wanted power, because he wanted to control people and money, she would have to marry him and all her dreams would vanish.

And Seth! Rui's cries soared in volume at the sudden thought of how the Snagger would react if he ever knew. The only thing keeping him sane, keeping him alive and encouraging him to change from bad guy to hero was her; if she was married off and he was to learn of it... Rather than destroy the world, Seth would probably destroy himself, all to keep Orre safe and to let her live on.

But what good was living if she and Seth were separated forever?

That thought seemed to have clicked on something in her mind. Rui lifted her gaze to the window, staring out at the stormy night as the rumble of thunder and the flashes of lightning filled the sky. How oddly appropriate; the violent swirls of darkness and storm raging outside her window was so much like the whirlwind of despair and heartache within her.

Where was her desert prince? Why wasn't he coming to save her? Because he believed she was safe in Orre, safe in Zirconia, waiting for him to finish his task of collecting money so he could return in triumph and carry her away to a life of love and joy. She laughed bitterly. Oh, he'd return to Zirconia all right, and when he learned that she wasn't there he'd unleash Raykyoudon's wrath upon the city and then go off to kill himself somewhere. Wonderful. Just ruin Orre's future like that, Apolo, uncaring wretch.

"And everything goes to hell." Rui whispered as she got to her feet and continued looking out at the storm that now covered the island and the neighboring one, "Tempest of the southern sea, hide this tragic night for me." She reached out, opened the vast window and stepped out to the balcony just beyond it. Immediately she was drenched in water, the rain hiding her tears as she gazed down over the banister at the grassy meadow below her.

"If I can't be with Seth in life, then I'll go to death and wait for him to join me." she whispered, eyes wide with fear of her own unnatural decision. Now she could see why Seth hated heights so long ago; it was so inviting, the idea of just falling and falling and falling...

* * *

Rain on Floe Island made the job a little harder. Again Red and Pikachu split off from Seth and the twins to search the island. Pikachu was not pleased with the Snagger's refusal to alter the weather, but quickly shrugged it off and raced into darkness. Seth darted for the cover of house interiors, drying off a little each time he entered a home. 

_"Man, this is worse than the storms we get in Orre!"_ Pluto sighed deprecatingly, resisting the urge to shake himself off in the living room of a young woman's house. He stood to let Seth dry him down with a towel with Jupiter anxiously waiting his turn. _"Remind me not to pick on you as much about getting caught in the rain, Seth. This really **is** depressing."_ The Snagger nodded slowly, pulling the towel free and motioning to Jupiter for the next treatment.

While they worked on drying off, Pluto wandered the house, sniffing around for Silver's scent. Without contact with either of the other two girls, the only real method of silent searching they had were the Eons' noses. Logically, wherever Silver was, the other two girls would be there as well. So he sniffed around, and despite being thorough and hopeful, the Umbreon found nothing. He trotted back to the others in frustration.

_"Nothing."_ he reported as Jupiter watched him from where he stood, getting his fur patted down with the damp cloth. The Espeon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes.

_"I'm really not liking this whole mission."_ he finally grumbled, _"If we're dealing with a businessman who potentially has a lot of power and influence here, why are we bothering with a bunch of small houses? Shouldn't we be searching for corporate buildings or something?"_

"I don't think the Sevii Islands can support a corporation's base of operations like that." Seth murmured, stripping off the dripping wet jacket and Snag Machine to let them dry for a bit, "Realgam Tower would probably sink one of these things." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to regain some semblance of his hairstyle; the rain soaked it through, flattening it down and making it cling to his face and neck. There would be no salvaging of the spiky coif tonight. He sighed and shrugged helplessly. "We just have to do it this way." Jupiter snorted.

_"I still don't like it. I just have this feeling that we're being set up." _he pressed and blinked at Seth's sudden glare.

"We're not being herded into anything. This is Red we're talking about. I trust the guy. We're alike." he argued, "Why would he want to do anything underhanded to us? We're helping him get the girls back."

_"Just something stinks about all this."_ the Espeon muttered as the Snagger redressed and looked out the window in apprehension. No choice, he had to get back out in that downpour. With a sigh, he slipped outside, followed by the Eons.

* * *

The clouds swirled above her, raging against the sea and land, the wind's fury tore at the forests, battered small houses, and stole the breath from Rui's lungs as she stood on the balcony. This was what she was reduced to? This night, this moment, staring down at the beach so far away, lit up only when flashes of lightning deigned to cut through the sky? Was this the only fate she was allowed to have because she loved Seth enough to protect him this way? 

Rui closed her eyes, held out her arms for balance. Whatever dreams she had, she held them close to her heart, forced the image of her shining desert prince into her mind. He would be her last vision; she had promised herself this long ago, when the journey to save Shadow Pokémon had its darkest, bleakest moments.

She took a deep breath.

* * *

The Eons halted dead in their tracks, stared over their shoulders as Seth suddenly dropped to his knees and gazed into the darkness, a horrified expression on his face. Zinc oxide strip long since washed away by the rain, hair clinging to his cheeks and forehead, he looked a mess. But this new feature, this sudden turn from sullen and depressed young man to stunned and terrified boy, was especially worrisome to the twins. 

_"Seth? What is it?"_ Pluto asked in concern, trotting back to him. The Snagger didn't answer, hands lifting to clutch the front of his jacket as the rain pounded down on his defenseless head. There was a squeak of pain that issued from his mouth, but nothing else. Jupiter cocked his head, flicking his dual-ended tail in anxiety as he joined his brother.

_"Seth, c'mon. What's going on? Why are you... like this?"_ he whispered, growing fearful of the stretch of time that was passing, _"We can't stay out here like this."_ Pluto mirrored his twin's expression.

_"It's dangerous to be this exposed. We're not used to this kind of weather. Seth, get up. We're going back to the jet."_ he told the young thief. Seth didn't seem to hear him, a whimpering rising from his throat as his eyes grew wider. _"Seth! Snap out of it!"_ the Umbreon barked harshly and snapped a look at his twin. The Espeon understood immediately, turning to lash his tail against Seth's cheek. The Snagger reacted just as quickly, hand flying up to the injured skin as he stared in shock at his partners.

_"What the hell is wrong with you?"_ Jupiter demanded shakily. Seth ran his fingers through his hair, a perplexed look on his face.

"I... I don't know... I felt... something wrong... Like, something was hurting so bad..." he stammered brokenly, his mind grasping at the feeling that was rapidly vanishing from him, "Rui... I want to be with Rui... now..." He scrambled to his feet, whirled and stumbled towards the black jet that was sheltered in a copse of trees not far from the eastern shores of Floe Island. The Eons leaped into action, loping alongside him as they made their way back to base. "I have to be with Rui! I _need_ to be with Rui! Now!" the Snagger panted, disoriented mind locked on that single force, the urge to return to his love's side.

* * *

"NO!" Flannery's voice yelled out. Rui dimly felt several pairs of hands grab her arms and clothes, yanking her from the edge of oblivion and into the embraces of her friends. 

"What were you thinking? Rui!" Silver shouted in a mix of rage and horror. Leaf sobbed loudly, eyes spilling tears and emotion as she clung to the older girl.

"Why! Why were you...?" she bawled, her hat gone, brown hair disheveled, "If I... if I was just... a little... late...!" Rui blinked as her full awareness returned and looked around at the other girls.

"Wh-what? Why... did you stop me?" she asked in confusion, "This is the only way I can save him." Silver gave her a resounding slap across the face, glaring as the redhead's eyes went wide, then narrowed in pain and anger. "You didn't have to hit me, Silver! You don't understand anything!" she yelled.

"The only thing I don't understand is how you've lost enough of your mind to think that jumping out there is gonna help Seth!" the Johto Champion snapped back, "Get yourself together, girl! What would Seth think of you if he knew his strong girlfriend just broke down and tried to chicken out of this situation?" Rui sank to the carpet, ignoring the large puddle of water that soaked it from her clothes, from the others'.

"You don't understand." she repeated dully, "Apolo... he wants to marry me... to get control of Seth." She heard the startled gasps of her friends and closed her eyes, willing away the tears that threatened to destroy what little composure she had recovered. "He doesn't know what else to do to find out what Seth has to control Orre, so he's going to marry me and use that to force Seth into telling him whatever he wants." She held her arms tightly and bowed her head, shivering. "The wedding is supposed to take place when the rain stops. I wish Seth could make it rain forever, so I could never marry Apolo." The girls looked at each other with grim expressions on their faces. A quick nod of silent agreement and Silver looked back down at the redhead.

"Let's escape tonight, Rui. We'll get out of here and find a way back to the mainlands." she decided, "We may not have a plan or any idea of how this building is set up, but we can't afford to stay here any longer." Rui blinked up at her in shock. "You're the only one of us who can battle right now. It'll be up to you to help us get to wherever our Pokémon are being stashed." the Johto Champion went on and clenched her hands into fists, "Think you're up for it?"

For a moment, Rui was silent, staring up at her friends with a strangely apprehensive look. Finally, she stood, the expression changing to one of a fierce determination. She returned the nod and lifted her fingers to her earrings.

"Let me get into some dry clothes. Then we're busting out of here!" she hissed, "I'll be damned before I let that jerk try to use me!"

* * *

"You're dripping all over the floor, you blasted little cretin!" Ein bellowed in a fury, "Don't you have any idea _who_ gets stuck cleaning that up?" Seth ignored him, gasping for air as he stood his ground in the belly of the jet, glaring at older trainer sitting calmly in the cockpit. 

"Take me back to Orre!" he demanded, "I've got to get to Rui!" Red glanced back over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes.

"We can't go back. We haven't found the girls yet." he answered coldly, "My mission isn't complete, and you're stuck with me until it's done. Five million, remember?" The Snagger growled harshly, shaking his head.

"I don't care about the money! Rui's in trouble! There's something wrong; I just _know_ it!" he yelled back, "I have to get to Orre!"

"Oh, so now you're a Psychic-type Pokémon, too?" the trainer asked coolly, "I'm fairly sure that none of the DNA bits that made you up comes from a Psychic Pokémon." The fact that the young thief suddenly flared angrily, golden eyes shining almost inhumanly bright, didn't seem to concern him. "Unless you plan on ripping the storm out there to bits and flying back on your own two wings, you're going to have to wait it out here." Seth opened his mouth to protest further and Red suddenly bared his teeth, a feral growl escaping him as the Second Soul reached out and slammed squarely into the Snagger.

"Ugh!" Seth grunted softly, stumbling backwards and falling into his seat, the Eons looking back at him with startled expressions as Ein cried in alarm. The Snagger squirmed feebly, then glared at the older trainer, finding himself unable to move.

"You're not leaving this plane, and you're not going back to Orre. We have a job to finish." Red snarled, "I'm not going to lose my fiancée, half-sister and target just because of your stupid little _hunches_!" The Pikachu sitting by him glanced between the two of them, a strangely guilty expression on his face. Jupiter and Pluto stepped forward, growling.

_"What are you doing, Chosen?"_ the Espeon spat out, _"How dare you use the Second Soul like that on Seth!"_ Red shot them a warning look and though the twins flinched, they didn't back down.

_"So what if you're the Chosen Master? That doesn't give you the right to force control over our partner like that! We came to help you! Is this how you pay us back?"_ Pluto demanded, angered by the situation. _"If Seth says something's wrong with Rui, then something's **wrong** and we have the right to go back to her!"_

"Not now." Red only said and turned back to his laptop, "Our readings came up negative. Did you find anything?"

Seth struggled against the bindings of the Second Soul for a few more seconds, then sighed harshly and answered with a bitter, "Nothing." This mission was starting to turn weird; was Jupiter onto something when he said that he didn't trust the whole plot? Was Red hiding something from him? Why? What could it be? Weren't they friends enough to be on equal terms?

Probably not, as Seth was still a Pokémon in the end and Red, as Chosen Master, could technically be master over him as well as the twin Eons that finally stepped back from Red to join him. The Snagger sighed again, softer this time, and tried to lift an arm. It felt like lead, refusing to budge from where it rested by his lap. Ein looked confused, gaze snapping between Snagger and trainer as he tried to grasp what had just taken place.

"Can you at least let me go now?" Seth finally muttered in annoyance. Red glanced back at him again, irritation marked clearly on his face.

"Sleep." he commanded and the Snagger slumped in his chair, chin resting on his chest as the Second Soul forced him into an unnatural slumber.

_"Hey! Cheater!"_ Jupiter snapped as the trainer turned away and Ein gathered the courage to poke at Seth's shoulder in curiosity.

"He needs the rest and he was beginning to annoy me." Red grumbled and gave the laptop screen a forlorn expression, "I just hope that he has a better chance of getting through this than I did..."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Many apologies to those who waited so long for this next chapter. I hope it's still as good a quality as my previous works. I'll keep hammering away at it until all the chapters are done. If anything seems off with this chapter, please let me know so I can be aware of my writing as I continue. Thanks for your patience!

* * *

Ch 11

First omen of bad things coming had been the soft alarm of the PDA going off. Apolo lazily opened the mail and felt the corner of his mouth twitch in resentment at having yet another message from the Snagger. He was awfully perceptive, adding only another mystery to what was already an annoyingly difficult puzzle. Rather than answer the mail, he simply closed it and set the device back in its drawer. That had been earlier in the evening, sometime after he had spoken to the girls and made his proposal to Rui. The rain outside, though a nuisance to his plans of marriage, was now lulling him to sleep. Apolo set aside the work he'd been focusing on and began to make his way to his personal suite, smiling at the thought that everything he deserved would soon be within his grasp.

And then the second alarm went off and this one was nowhere near as soft and assuring as the tones of Rui's PDA. Apolo sat up in bed, disoriented, then coming awake fully with the surprised realization that one of the girls was attempting another escape. In a flash, he leaped from his sheets for the closet, scrambling for a suit and searching the room for the cologne bottle of the mesmerizing liquid. Normally, the suave businessman wouldn't have bothered with getting up to face the attempted escapees, but something about tonight seemed to urge him to personally take care of the issue.

Another alarm, this one coming from his laptop computer. It was an e-mail, from Red by the looks of it. Apolo shrugged on his coat and clicked on the file, allowing the message to load as he sought out the decanter of antitoxin and downed a shot-glass filled with the liquid. A spritzing of the special cologne later and he put his attention back on the message, ignoring for the moment the phone on his desk ringing frantically.

"_'Mr. Seusur, I will be arriving shortly on Chrono Island with the package you requested. We will meet at the designated area and make the exchange as promised.'_" he murmured and smiled. If the final component to dominating the four regions nearest to the Sevii Islands was about to come in, then the wedding ceremony was going to have to be pushed ahead. And though he dearly loved a sunny summer wedding, perhaps a passionate, stormy one would do just as well. At least, for his purposes.

Exiting his room and heading for the office, Apolo made the last minute touches to his ensemble, straightening his tie and smoothing out creases in his pants. He snatched up the phone, halting its annoying wailing, then held it to his ear, waiting for the report. Which girl was it now?

"Sir! Sorry to disturb you, but the girls are breaking out! They've run down several of the guards and are making their way to the Pokémon holding bay!" a harried voice blurted out. Apolo lifted an eyebrow in surprise.

"'They'? How many of the girls have escaped? And how were they able to overpower the guards?" he asked calmly.

"All four of them, sir! The one from Orre; she has Pokémon on her! She must have hidden her Poké Balls from us during the preliminary search!" the grunt explained quickly.

"Well, find them and bring them back, and be sure to take Rui's Pokémon from her this time." Apolo remarked, smoothing back his hair, "I don't want her running off on us before the wedding. Those girls are the key to gaining power over the four regions." He smiled and looked out the window at the storm. "Do what it takes to recollect my treasures. Understand?" he purred.

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Apolo murmured and hung up. He straightened his tie once more, then left his office, chuckling softly to himself.

* * *

"Neptune, Saturn, you remember Silver's Pokémon, right? Can you find them?" Rui asked hurriedly as the four girls ran down the halls. The twin Eons yipped brightly and turned for an elevator, racing straight for it and circling before the doors.

"Does this mean our Pokémon are higher or lower in the building than us?" Leaf asked in confusion. Rui nodded.

"Neptune and Saturn have been around Silver's Pokémon before, so they know her team. And if all of your Pokémon were taken away, maybe they got put together in the same place." she explained with a smile. Flannery pumped a fist into the air.

"Oh, yeah! So if we find Silver's Pokémon, we'll find all of ours, too!" she exclaimed. Silver frowned, folding her arms over her chest in thought.

"Great idea, but we can't use the elevators. If the security goons find out we're inside them, they can cut the power and trap us there." she remarked, "We should take the stairs instead." Leaf groaned as the group made their way to a second door for the stairway.

"Why couldn't this place have teleporter pads like Saffron City's Silph Co. building?" she complained. They hurried into the stairwell and looked around. Well lit and open, the flights of steps heading up and down spiralled around and made them somewhat dizzy. Rui shut her eyes and shook her head, shaking the vertigo away. Was this another reason why Seth had hated looked down from up high long ago? She opened her eyes and regained her determination, looking down at her Eons.

"Okay, girls! Which way do we go?" she asked. Neptune glowed with a soft blue aura, reaching out with her psychic powers to locate the missing Pokémon. After a bit, she padded towards the stairs heading down and barked. "Neptune says we have to head downstairs to find the floor where your Pokémon are being held!" Rui told the other trainers, "She'll stop at the door to the right place when we get there! Let's go!" The girls nodded and all hurried down the flights of steps, following the twin Eons as they leaped down the stairs in their escape route.

"Once we get our Pokémon, we're going to have to find our IDs as well!" Flannery added between huffs of air, "Our PokéDexes, Poké Gear, and whatever else you guys use to keep track of yourselves!"

"I bet those will be with that Apolo creep!" Leaf declared angrily, "My big brother said that the head bad guy always has the really important stuff you need to recover!" Silver nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's usually how it is! When our teams are back with us, let's go show that jerk what the women of the four regions he's trying to take over can really do!" she shouted and the other girls whooped alongside her, cheering themselves on as they raced to elude security and find their Pokémon.

* * *

Seth managed to open his eyes slowly, feeling faintly groggy as he sagged in his seat. Wearily, he looked around himself through partially opened eyes, trying to get his mind to catch up with time and analyze his surroundings. Thief instincts screamed at him to get up and run, make a mad dash for the exit and boost, but his reflexes were dulled. A drug? No, this wasn't that artificial lethargy of drugs. He recognized those; he'd had enough of them to know the difference. This was something else.

Chosen power.

"Damn it." he growled through his teeth, struggling to bring himself back up to speed. Red, that bastard. He used his Chosen Master power on him, the power of the Second Soul. It was a miracle he could even move this much now; what had that guy done to him?

"Good. You're awake." the older man's voice remarked flatly, "We've arrived." Seth saw a flicker of motion out of the corner of his eyes and the strangely leaden feeling in his limbs faded away. In a flash, he was on his feet and launching himself at the mercenary in a fury, only to be dropped to the floor with another wave of his hand. "Will you calm down?!" Red snapped down at him, "I only did what I had to in order to make sure you were ready for this mission! I can't have you running around in a stupid, love-blinded panic when I need you most!"

"You didn't have to use Chosen power on me! Let me go!" the Snagger yelled furiously, struggling to get up and nearly throwing himself off balance when he found his strength suddenly returned to him. Ein sat on a nearby bed, watching the proceedings with a great deal of interest, a faintly smug grin spread on his face. Seth shot him a warning glare, then looked to the older trainer for an explanation.

"Sometimes, you're put in a position where you have to do things you don't want to, and all you can do is the best you can. I know you want to go back to Orre, but right now, there are people counting on us." Red told him seriously, "I promise, when this is done, I'll take you to Rui's home in Zirconia. You can show her parents you're fit to marry her once you've been paid for helping me."

"Fine. But I'm holding you to it." Seth growled and turned his back on the mercenary, signaling the twin Eons to his side.

_"I still don't like this. He feels strange, but he's blocking most of my psychic abilities."_ Jupiter muttered under his breath as they exited the jet and gathered under a nearby tree to find shelter from the storm.

"I hate admitting to it, but I'm starting to think you're right about Red not being trustworthy right now." the Snagger murmured in return, "Whatever's going on, it's not on the level and if we don't find out what it is soon, we might be the ones paying for it."

_"So what's the plan if he double crosses us in any way?"_ Pluto muttered, warily watching the older trainer and his Pikachu descend from the jet, the ramp slick with rain and the sleek shape of the plane lit up by the occasional flashes of lightning erupting overhead.

"That's the problem. I can't do anything as long as he's using Chosen power. But if you guys can move fast enough to knock him out before he tries anything..." Seth began and Jupiter grinned fiercely.

_"Then you can finish off that rat of his with a blast of Raykyoudon power! Nobody messes with the best Snagger team in Orre and gets away with it!"_ he hissed darkly and the three of them snapped to full alertness as Red came near.

"We'll try sweeping in from the south to north, and west to east." the mercenary told Seth. He waved a hand in one direction. "Chrono Island has a strange shape to it, so we'll divide into two teams. The Pokémon will form one team and sweep the west to east sector up here, while the two of us start at the south and work our way north. We'll meet back at the jet to report our findings, if any."

The Eons immediately flared in distrust.

_"He's splitting us up?!"_ Pluto growled and the Pikachu glared at him.

_"Do you have a problem with that?"_ he demanded and Seth held a hand out to the twins.

"Take it easy, guys." he muttered, watching the older man warily as Red lifted an eyebrow questioningly, "Red rubs me the wrong way, but he'd never do anything that would really hurt us. This is fine. You can move around easier if I'm not there to attract attention to you, and I have the other Pokémon with me if I need to battle any thugs."

_"But...!"_ Jupiter began to protest and winced as Seth snapped his fingers against his ear.

"We'll be fine. Just go ahead. It's only for a couple of hours." the Snagger insisted and the twins sighed in resentful defeat. Pikachu hopped down from Red's shoulder and began trotting off with them. After a moment, the mouse paused and glanced over his shoulder. A look passed between him and his trainer, and Pikachu returned to his march, suddenly looking much older and weary than before. Seth caught the expression, but kept it to himself, tightening his mouth as he turned back to the older trainer. Red merely rested a hand on his hip, a deadpan look on his face.

"Ready?" he questioned and Seth nodded.

"For anything." he replied heavily and hesitated only a moment before taking the lead. This Red noticed, though his only response to it was another lifted eyebrow. Then he fell into step and the two of them disappeared into the darkness of the night and the violent tempest ravaging the island.

* * *

Leaf looked up at the door, a faintly disgusted look on her face as the other girls stood behind her with mixed expressions of irritation and confusion.

"You have **got** to be kidding me! Oh, come on! Do all bad guys follow the same stupid formula for this? Is there a class somewhere in Bad Guy College that teaches this crap?!" Silver declared in exasperation, throwing one hand up in disbelief of the door's sign. It loudly proclaimed in bold, black letters 'Pokémon Storage Room' and was locked with a simple card key slot. Rui chuckled hesitantly, giving the Johto Champion a faint smile.

"Look on the bright side, Silver. At least this makes things easier for us, right?" she asked and the dark-haired girl planted both hands on her hips, lower lip jutting out indignantly.

"I was hoping for more of a challenge." she grumbled, "I wanted to use someone as a beating stick for all the crud we've been through for days and days."

"We can do that way better once we get our Pokémon back." Leaf remarked, adjusting the rim of her hat, "Then we can beat up everybody who made us stay here, including that Apolo jerk." Flannery nodded in agreement, a wide grin on her face.

"Yup! And just to show them all my appreciation for this little 'vacation', I'll set this whole building on fire!" she declared and Rui waved her hands before her, the weak smile still on her face.

"Come on now, Flannery, isn't that just a bit overboard?" she asked her, "Can't we just beat their faces into the walls and leave it at that?" The other girls looked at her, then at each other, then sighed and shrugged.

"Well, if that's all we can do to them, I guess that's okay. Besides, in a storm like this, it's really hard to set anything on fire." Silver relented. Rui smiled brightly and nodded.

"We can always come back later with Seth and ask him to use Drought." she agreed and the Hoenn Gym Leader lit up eagerly.

"**Then **we can set it on fire! Okay, I'm good with that! Let's grab our Pokémon and get the rest of our stuff!" she exclaimed and Rui pointed at the door with a serious expression on her face, her twin Eons jumping forward to glare at it.

"Saturn, Neptune! Double Tackle!" she cried and the Pokémon shot straight for the door, slamming against it with all their strength and popping it off the hinges like a cork. The girls rushed in and searched the room quickly, dashing to each shelf full of Poké Balls that they could find. Little cries of joy and elation filled the air as companions were rescued and released from their confines, allowed to stretch out freely for the first time in ages.

"Nice Typhlosion." Flannery commented with a smile, eyeing the Fire-type that Silver cooed over happily.

"Thanks; he's been my best friend and best partner since I first began training!" the Champion returned brightly. Rui folded her arms over her chest and gazed upward with a frown.

"Okay, now we have to get our gear back. I bet they would be stashed in Apolo's room. Top floor, right?" she remarked aloud and Silver nodded.

"Then let's gooo!" Leaf cheered and they hurried out of the room, ignoring the blares of alarms that had screamed about their intrusion the moment the door was blown away.

Getting upstairs was harder than going down. The girls still wanted to escape, and the urge to just use their Pokémon to Fly out the first window they saw was hard to ignore. On top of that, they had to contend with Apolo's guards trying to recapture them. There were several skirmishes involving the Pokémon that sent them running off in a panic, most notably from Flannery's Fire team. In some instances, though, even that wasn't available to them.

Like this one.

"Hyah!" Silver cried, kicking her leg up to knock the pistol out of the guard's hands. Leaf snatched her hat free and threw it aside, aiming to push the weapon further beyond his reach. Rui watched with wide eyes as the Johto Champion finished off the unarmed man with a powerful punch to the jaw. It wasn't without consequence, as Silver immediately yelped in pain and rubbed at her fist.

"Are you all right?" the redhead cried in alarm and the dark-haired trainer smiled sheepishly.

"I keep forgetting I'm not as strong as Red. I'll be fine, just remind me not to punch anyone else's lights out for a while." she replied laughingly.

They pressed onward, clambering up stairs as swiftly as they could to reach the top floor. Apolo's room was easily recognized by the grandiose oak doors that served as its entrance, and Leaf was all too pleased to crush it to splinters with her Venusaur.

"Frenzy Plant!" she exclaimed, pointing at the target as the giant Grass and Poison-Type unleashed its hidden power upon the doors. Rui gathered up her courage and anger and raced into the room with her friends hurrying after her.

"All right, Apolo! We're here to take back our...!" she began to yell and blinked in surprise as the dust cleared to reveal no one there. She looked around, puzzled, while Flannery, Leaf and Silver cautiously began to spread out in search of their various devices. "Wh-where did he go?" Rui murmured in a soft voice, unsure of what this change in situation meant for them.

Flannery shrugged as she passed her hands along the ornate desk and opened a drawer. Her eyes lit up and she motioned to the others.

"I found them! Here's my PokéNav!" she exclaimed and collected the device as the others hurried to join her and reclaim their belongings. While they sorted through the drawer, the Hoenn Gym Leader scanned the desktop for anything else of interest, her eyes quickly drawn to an opened e-mail left on the screen of Apolo's computer. She scanned it over, then looked puzzled.

"Hey, what's this? It's from that Red guy you guys talk about so much." she remarked to the other girls, pointing at the screen. Silver looked up in concern as she strapped her Poké Gear to her wrist. Leaf collected her PokéDex happily and turned to read the e-mail herself.

"Really? Lemme see! What did my big brother say to Apolo? I hope he told him off and stuff!" she cheered and searched the words, the Johto Champion standing by her to do the same. Leaf's expression became confused. "Huh? I don't get it. What does he mean by package?" she asked and looked up at the older trainers, "Did Apolo get my brother to deliver something for him? Was that all he wanted him to do?" Silver straightened, arms folding over her chest as she frowned in thought.

"_'Mr. Seusur, I will be arriving shortly on Chrono Island with the package you requested. We will meet at the designated area and make the exchange as promised.'_" she read the message aloud, "Strange. What's this all about?"

"My PDA isn't here." Rui muttered in frustration, combing through the drawer. She stood back and ran a hand through her hair, sighing harshly. "Great. Now what do I do? That PDA has the ability to track Seth down! If I don't get it back, who knows what evil could be used with that information!" She looked over at her friends as they peered at the computer and lifted an eyebrow. "Huh? Why's everyone looking at that thing for?" she asked in confusion. Silver waved her over and pointed at the screen, letting Rui read the puzzling e-mail for herself.

"This probably means he's left the building, which means we might want to do the same as well, before he comes back and finds out we busted loose." the Johto Champion remarked, "Also, if your PDA isn't here, he might be carrying it around, seeing as how it's yours and he wants to marry you. Sort of a trophy prize, if you think about it."

"Then let's get out of here and find him!" Rui demanded, "I want my PDA back and I'm not gonna marry that jerk!" Flannery threw up her hands in a sign of relief.

"Finally! We get to leave! I'm getting sick of this place every second I'm still here!" she exclaimed, "So how do we get out?" Leaf ran over to the vast windows that comprised an entire wall of Apolo's office, unlocked them and shoved them open.

"We'll fly! Or at least, use Fly!" the young trainer returned brightly, "My Pidgeot can carry us down to the ground two at a time, so you and Rui can go first!" She whipped out a Poké Ball and threw it forward, "Pidgeot! I need you!"

A flash of light erupted and, when it cleared, a huge bird with soft brown, red and golden feathers appeared before them, flapping its wings furiously to stay stable in the storm winds. It gave a cry for battle, then flapped into the office to give the girls a chance to climb onto its back. Flannery and Rui eagerly took the offer and Leaf gave another command, for the bird to Fly them down to the ground safely. The Pidgeot shot out of the office building and spiraled downwards to earth, both Flannery and Rui clutching its feathers tightly until it touched down.

Silver and Leaf looked down from above, watching as Pidgeot carried the girls to safety. The older Champion nodded grimly.

"Okay, they made it." she told Leaf, "Now, our turn." A pounding began at the door and both girls turned to look back at it in surprise.

"Oh no! They found out we didn't actually leave the building! I guess we should have done a better job at hiding all those grunts we knocked out!" Leaf cried in a panic, "Those goons are gonna bash down the door and Venusaur is still too tired from the Frenzy Plant to do much damage to their Pokémon!" Silver sighed and shook her head, pulling a set of Poké Balls from her side.

"I'll handle this!" she called back as the Pidgeot returned to pick them up, "Just get on the bird and get out of here! I'll meet you later!" Leaf stared up at her in shock, face paling. "Just go! I'm the Johto Champion! I can handle myself!" Silver snapped and Leaf yelped in fright, racing for the Pidgeot.

"Be careful! And come back right away!" she called back as she leaped onto the bird and flew out the window. Silver only grinned as she tightened the silver ribbon around her head and threw out her team of Pokémon to face the oncoming rush of guards.

"All right, boys!" she laughed as the storm rumbled and lightning flashed behind her, "LET'S DANCE!"


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: It took ages, but I hope the effort was worth it. I apologize for taking so long, but I have work now that takes up large amounts of time as well as new fandoms to write for. Being that this is the last Colosseum fic I'll write, I want to make sure it ends spectacularly, so I'm being very critical of myself.

* * *

Chapter 12

It took less than a couple of hours before Seth stopped walking, looked around himself quickly, then sighed and shot a glare over at the mercenary following him. Red continued moving on, hands hidden in his pockets as he passed by, head bowed and eyes hidden by his messy black hair now completely soaked by rain.

"What does the scanner say about this area?" the Snagger asked suddenly and Red halted. "Must be pretty high-tech, scanning the whole place without ever being in your hands. And since you never look for it, I bet it must send data somewhere to get looked over." Seth went on, eyes narrowing further, "Or could it be... that you never meant to search this area for the girls?"

The mercenary said nothing but he seemed to stiffen for a moment before relaxing. He turned and gave the Snagger a dry grin that didn't quite match the strange gleam in his eyes.

"Observant, aren't you? How long have you known?" he asked in return.

"That you weren't really scanning? A while now." Seth returned icily, "What the hell's going on, Red? Really? You've led me all the way out here for the sake of finding the kidnapped girls, and suddenly you're not making an effort to locate them. What's changed?" Red only stared at him in silence, then suddenly brought one hand out of his pocket, thrusting it into the air above him. Seth gave a start, immediately going into a slight crouch and clenching his hands into fists, eyes widening in surprise. He followed the limb up to see what Red was clutching in one hand, then took on a puzzled expression when it appeared to only be a phone of some kind. Red's face didn't change expression at all; he brought the cell phone down in Seth's view and carelessly flicked it open, thumbed a button on it, then brought it to his ear.

All the while, his eyes remained locked onto the Snagger's gaze, the silence stretching on in the storm until finally...

"Agent Red to Command, come in." the mercenary reported in a neutral tone, then pulled the phone away from his ear, flicking another switch.

_"This is Command. Ah, Red, so you've finally arrived at the rendezvous point. No worries; I shall be there soon. Has the package arrived safely with you?"_ a smooth male voice replied from the phone; speaker function, obviously. Seth blinked at it in alarm and confusion, not recognizing the caller on the other end. Red brought the phone closer to his mouth, still watching the Snagger before him.

"Affirmative. The Prince of the Desert has been brought to the island as requested. The deal will be completed once payment has been released to me." he confirmed flatly and hung up the phone, sliding it back into his pocket. Seth tightened his fists, lips pulling back in a semi-snarl.

"Who the hell was that, Red?! What the hell's going on?! What are you talking about, 'the Prince of the Desert'?! What deal?!" he fired questions rapidly. The mercenary shrugged almost fatalistically, a vague grin on his face.

"Like I said, sometimes we have to do things we don't like and just hope for the best." he remarked and slid into a ready stance, grinning wider as his hands moved up for grappling, "So, are you ready?" And Seth's eyes widened in shock before narrowing in fury, the Snagger immediately moving into his own fighting position with a snarl.

"And like _I_ said before..." he growled, "I'm ready for anything, traitor!"

* * *

The girls ran on together in the rain, huffing tiredly as they pressed on through dripping wet vegetation in a desperate search for an escape. Rui had wanted to go back for Silver, urged her friends to stop and fight back but Leaf pushed them on.

"She'll be fine! She's a Champion, remember?!" the young trainer had cried and Flannery grabbed onto Rui's wrist, dragging her along as they moved.

Light swept through the trees, dancing over the wood and throwing ominous shadows all over as the storm cut visibility down to nothing. The grunts were outside now, chasing them, hunting them down. They could only move on and hope that Silver would be all right on her own.

"Go, go! Come on!" the Hoenn Gym Leader panted, hair plastered to her head and shoulders as it finally came undone by the rain and winds. Rui struggled to keep up, exhaustion setting in as her adrenaline began to wane.

"I want to go home! I've got to get back to Orre!" she moaned, urging herself to hang on a little longer, to keep moving on. Now wasn't the time to fall apart; what would her friends think of her if she balked and cried now? What would Seth think? _"He's fighting so hard for me; I have to do the same for him! I just wish he'd come and save me and make it a little easier!"_ she thought to herself with a mental whimper. A light swept over them and Leaf yelped in fright, loud enough to be heard.

"They're over there!" a grunt yelled, "Move! Get them!" Screaming in a panic now, the girls raced on through the forest, crashing through the underbrush as they tried to outrun their pursuers. Rui strained to push away her exhaustion and keep going. So close! So close to escape; she couldn't allow herself to be taken back to that luxury prison!

"Come on, come on! Hurry! They're catching up!" Leaf cried, arms and legs covered in scratches from stumbling through bushes and branches, "If we can find a town, we can get help or something!" Flannery huffed and nodded, reaching for a Poké Ball at her belt.

"You guys go on ahead! I'm gonna buy us some space!" she declared and spun around abruptly, hurling the little ball ahead of her, "Let's go! Torkoal!" The tortoise Pokémon appeared in a burst of light and roared out in defiance, steaming as the rain beat down on it. The other girls stopped in alarm, with Rui trying to convince the Gym Leader to recall the Torkoal and move on. "Rui, we need you to get out of here and back to Seth!" Flannery yelled over her shoulder, "If you really meant what you said about him, then we have to do everything we can to reunite you two before he finds out what's happened!"

"But I have to get my PDA back! Without it, I can't find Seth and Apolo can track him down at any time!" Rui cried back, "And we can't leave you to be recaptured! What about Silver?! We're all in this together; we can't split up!'

"Leaf! Get her out of here!" Flannery snapped. The young trainer grabbed Rui by the arm and dashed back into the forest, dragging the sobbing redhead along with her. The figure of the Hoenn Leader faded in the fog of the stormy night, lights from the incoming grunts dancing around her as they surrounded her.

"C'mon!" Leaf exclaimed through her own tears and sobs, "W-we gotta go! G-gotta find my brother and... and tell him what's happening!" She fought back a sniffle as the two fled through the underbrush. "He'll help us! I know he will! When he sees me, he'll stop Apolo 'cause then he won't be blackmailed any more!" Rui couldn't answer, sobbing bitterly at the knowledge that her two friends had essentially sacrificed themselves to get her to freedom.

* * *

The meadow was torn into as the Snagger took out his furies on the mercenary. Seth slammed his hand against the earth, commanding the rock to upheave itself and throw Red off balance. The older man only dodged, leaping onto each pillar that jutted out of the ground and pushing off to add the momentum to himself. He made no attempts to fight back, simply watched Seth intently with a smirk as the teen grew more and more infuriated.

The rain seemed to feed off of the frenzy of battle, strengthening itself and hindering the desert-born Snagger with its sounds, the temperature, the humidity, and the winds. Lightning flashing would blind him in the middle of an attack, leaving him to panic and send the storm into a wilder spin over them. The rain soaked his clothing and weighed him down, reducing his speed and agility to a crawl in his mind and angering him to the point of causing violently loud thunder to sound over the meadow. The winds buffeted his slight frame, sometimes gusting with enough force to slam him against one of his previously called pillars of earth or a nearby tree.

"Any minute now, it will all be over." Red suddenly declared, standing opposite the Snagger as he watched him struggle to get to his feet against the wind. The teen glared at him, panting as he made a mental check of his limbs and body for damage, noting that Red remained unscathed. No surprise there, as he'd spent the whole time evading and dodging each use of Seth's Pokémon abilities.

"Figures. You're going to use the Second Soul to take me out, like you did in the jet." Seth snarled and straightened to his full height, clenching both hands into fists. "I won't give in to that! I still have some shred of human DNA within me! You can't order me around like any old Pokémon!" he shouted back in a fury, "You're not my master!" Red remained emotionless, staring down the Snagger with a stoic face. After a moment, he grinned, a baring of teeth that looked menacing for the once gentle Pallet Town trainer.

"You're giving yourself too much credit, Snagger. As long as you possess Pokémon DNA, you have no choice **but** to call me Master. It's the will of the Universe, of Nature, of the very Elements themselves. Even the god of Pokémon bows to my will when I command it." he purred darkly, "This is the power of the Chosen Master, the bridge between human and Pokémon. You're lucky I don't abuse it." He waved a hand negligently towards Seth as the Snagger scowled at him. "No, what will defeat you isn't **my** power, but your own." he clarified.

"What the hell are you talking abou-?!" Seth snapped, stepping forward and freezing in place as a sharp pain scored through his body, "Aagh!" He staggered back, gripping his upper arms tightly as waves of pain, exhaustion and cold swept over him, making him dizzy. "Wh-what's ha-happening?!" he growled, shutting his eyes as the sensation of thousands of needles of ice began stabbing into him, numbing his limbs and sending him into fits of panting and gasping for air.

"You didn't eat before we left the jet earlier, and all the meals you've had before were laced with a compound that increases the power of special attacks and abilities while reducing special defense as a drawback. Certain herbs have that effect, you should learn." Red explained calmly, watching Seth shiver violently in the storm.

"Th-then... th-this ssstorm..." Seth managed to hiss out in realization, opening his eyes to glare at Red before cringing in pain as he dropped to his knees, hunching over to conserve heat and shut out the icy pain surrounding him.

"You've been very moody as of late, depressive and aloof; it's only natural your subconscious would generate this storm in response. It took its sweet time getting here, though, but it served its purpose in the end." Red went on coldly, as the bushes behind him began to rustle with movement, strange sounds emerging from the forest, "Temperatures have dropped dramatically; this rain is not close enough to freezing point to become snow, but it's enough to act as sleet. Ice. Your dominant genes are weak to it. Do the math." The Snagger went into a short coughing fit before collapsing to one side, shuddering weakly as the underbrush parted to let a jeep drive into the meadow. Red turned to watch impassively as the doors opened to let a grunt out with an umbrella hoisted to shield a well-dressed gentleman from the rain.

"Ah, Agent Red! Good to see you return at long last!" the gentleman exclaimed brightly. Seth glared up at the scene as the man finally noticed him lying on the grass. "Ah, and this must be the Prince of the Desert, the power link between my lovely bride and the Orre region." he added with a wide smile, "Perfect."

"Bride?" Red questioned in confusion, eyes widening in alarm, "You are getting married? To someone from the Orre region?" The gentleman clapped his hands together and laughed.

"Why yes! To secure the power of Orre, I'm marrying the most influential girl from that region." he explained, "It has come to my attention that she controls a powerful weather manipulation device code-named Raykyoudon through her influence on this young man." He waved at Seth. "This young Mr. Evice, I presume? He who holds the fate of Orre in his hands and rules over its land and resources deserves such a title as the Prince of the Desert." Red had paled at the mention of Raykyoudon, as had Seth with his golden eyes growing wide and frantic.

"No, no, no, no!" he moaned through chattering teeth, "Not again! Not again!" He struggled to get up, fighting down his body's urges to grow wings and escape that way.

"Her name!" Red suddenly demanded in a snarl, "The girl who supposedly controls the Prince of the Desert; what is her name?!" The gentleman reached into his jacket and produced a familiar piece of technology, flipping it open to smile at the ID within it.

"My lovely bride's name is..." he began and the underbrush shook violently again, this time producing two girls that raced in and skidded to a stop in absolute shock and terror.

"Rui!" Seth cried out at seeing her rain-soaked figure and nearly wild eyes that took in everything around her.

"Leaf!" Red echoed, reaching out to his young half-sister, "Where's Silver?! Where are the other girls?!" He glared at the gentleman grinning at them all. "This wasn't part of our deal! I was to deliver the Prince of the Desert only after all three girls were released to me!" the mercenary raged, "Why do you have this other girl with you?!"

"I said I was getting married, didn't I?" the businessman purred and snapped his fingers, "Gentlemen, bring my bride in out of the rain. I wouldn't want her catching cold before our wedding." Rui darted from the men coming for her and raced to Seth's side, sobbing as she tried to pull him up.

"What are you doing here?! How did you get here?!" she blurted out, "Come on! We have to get out of here and plan a rescue and...!"

"Why are you marrying this guy?!" Seth shouted back, hurt by the conversation that went on, "What's going on?! Why, Rui?!"

"Apolo kidnapped me, Seth! I don't want to marry him! It's not-!" the redhead pleaded and screamed as she was grabbed and hauled away from him, "No! Let me go! Seth! Help me!"

"Men, seize the mercenary and the Prince of the Desert!" the businessman went on, "Don't resist, Agent Red, or your sister and betrothed will be most uncomfortable for the rest of your stay!" The rest of the grunts following him rushed out to apprehend Red, grabbing Leaf as she tried to run to help him, and reaching for Seth to take him in. The Snagger fought back, kicking and flailing as he howled in pain and fury.

"Seth! Stop fighting! You don't have the strengths for it!" Red shouted at him_._

Seth shrieked once more before going limp after a blast of freezing wind rushed over the meadow in answer to his despair, helplessly watching as Rui was pulled into the jeep with the gentleman, the older man draping his coat around her shoulders with the grin of a victorious suitor.

* * *

The storm outside waned away to weak showers of rain, leaving only the maelstrom within the compound where Apolo held the pieces to ruling the four regions. The four girls were back in their rooms, each one sedated to prevent another breakout. The two keys to breaking the regions were locked in the prison cells, forced to wait until the day of the wedding to act as 'witnesses' to the union.

"How much longer are you going to cry in the corner?" Red grumbled under his breath as he rested a cheek on one fist, lounging on his cot. Seth was curled up on the other side of the room, shuddering silently as his face was buried in his arms.

"I just want to know why." the Snagger finally murmured, lifting his head to stare at the wall, "I was going to earn the money to be able to marry Rui, and now she's marrying that slimeball in the morning. Why?" The sound of hands clapping caught their attentions and both turned to the bars that served as the front of the cell. It was the gentleman from earlier and Seth bristled in fury.

"Dear little Prince, if you had wanted to know why, you should have asked me earlier." he answered, grinning as the Snagger made his way to the bars and glared at him, "The Soulful Eyes of Orre had been promised to me by her parents. It was an arranged marriage." Seth growled, golden eyes flashing in anger as a strange scent seemed to wrap around him from the gentleman, tickling his senses but otherwise ignored in his rage. "You wouldn't have had a chance anyway." the older man went on coolly, "A maiden like Rui is wasted on the filth of the underworld. How can a thief even hope to treat her like the princess she truly is?" The Snagger stared at him in shock upon hearing those words, eyes growing wider as the gentleman went on. "You only know to steal and deceive, to kill and subject others to debasement; how can someone like you possibly give her the life of luxury she deserves?" he continued, grinning as Seth pulled away from the bars, stepping back and hugging himself, "The Prince of the Desert is fit only for one purpose; restoration of the Orre region. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That's not...! That's not...!" Seth tried to protest weakly, sinking to his knees and shuddering tearfully, "It's not... It's..."

"All true. Believe me, once Rui becomes my wife, she'll understand exactly what it was she was being kept from when she doted on you. And she'll hate you for keeping her away from the life she was meant to have." the gentleman purred, "Such a self-destructive little man you are, no wonder your family killed themselves on stupid ventures." He jumped when Red slammed a fist against the wall of the cell, sending echoes of the shaking metal throughout the prison.

"That's enough gloating for now. Shouldn't you be getting ready, Mr. Seusur?" the mercenary growled icily, turning a furious gaze towards him, "After we're freed, I'm going to want to have a _very_ long **discussion** with you about this treachery." Apolo smirked as he began walking away.

"That's assuming you ever get free. You're still under my power, He Who Shares The Darkness." he purred and left them alone, laughing as the door closed behind him.

The prison cell returned to silence and Red loosened his watch, flicking it in his hand absently as he watched Seth have yet another silent breakdown in the middle of the room. He'd counted them at first, for no reason but to have something to do, then lost interest after the fourth time the Snagger curled up in misery. It was odd to see for him; perusing copies of the WSLY drives the Kids Grid still held possession of allowed him to see how Seth acted over the time he lived. The changes were drastic, and all because he learned to accept the love he felt for Rui.

But at the same time, he twisted his life in utter devotion to the redhead; if anything happened to her, it would destroy the young Snagger completely. Hence the constant breakdowns as Seth continued falling apart despite his efforts to stay stable long enough to do anything else. What he needed now to get him out of this rut and back on track was hope. Hope that there was a way out, hope that he wasn't alone in this, hope that he had a chance at marrying Rui.

"This wasn't part of the plan." Red finally sighed, "I was going to have us brought in here under the pretense that I was delivering you to him in exchange for the missing girls. Then once they were safe, we would do the Pinsir's Clamp on this compound, locking it down for the authorities to take over." Seth shifted and looked up at him blearily, eyes narrowed in distrust. "That's why I said we sometimes had to do things we don't like and hope for the best. I don't like compromising our friendship, the trust we have in one another." he added, turning eyes on the Snagger with an honest expression, "But I was in a panic and this was the only thing I could think of to help everyone. If I had known he was going to kidnap Rui, I would have told you everything. It's just that..." He clenched the strap of his watch tightly in his fist, baring teeth in self-berating, "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I'm so sorry." Silence reigned in the cell and Red returned to toying with his watch.

"It's okay." Seth finally murmured, getting up to sit on his own cot, "He was right on all counts." Red stopped playing with the watch to stare at him in shock. The teen laughed derisively, shaking his head at his expression. "I mean, really! Who was I trying to fool?!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation, "The only thing I'm good for is being controlled by power-hungry madmen bent on world domination or world destruction! That's the whole reason why I was created!" He laughed again, running one hand through his hair as he sat back and tilted his head to keep the tears contained. "I'm just posing as a human thief while waiting for the next maniac to come along and pick me up like some stray Growlithe." Seth remarked and gave a weak shrug, "I'm a Pokémon, after all; I'm not allowed to love a human. Nature's law."

The dark-haired mercenary said nothing to him, only stood to walk over before the Snagger. He gazed down at him for a moment, then pulled him up by the front of his jacket and slammed his fist across his face, tossing him back down. Seth held his jaw in one hand, staring up at him in alarm. He hadn't been expecting that, proof to Red that Seth truly had given up on his own well-being to disregard his personal shields and alertness.

"Let me tell you a story, pieced together by events, evidence, and experience." the mercenary told him, taking a seat beside the Snagger as he rubbed the leather strap of his watch between his thumb and index finger, "Once upon a time, there was a family in Orre; the Evice Family. They were happy living together and were very wealthy. The mother gave birth to a son and a daughter, dying soon after from weakened health. The son left Orre to pursue a dream and died tragically in Kanto. Enraged, the father vowed to restore his son and created a clone with his daughter's DNA to bridge the gaps in legendary Pokémon DNA. This was to be his new son."

Seth moved as if to speak but Red threw out a hand to cover his mouth.

"The new son rebelled and brought down the corporation that was to be his inheritance, only to find that the daughter picked up where her father left off, unleashing what was supposed to be their true intentions on the world. The new son destroyed that plan and the daughter was supposedly killed in the failure. The clone also died, but was graced with another rebirth, to guide others to discover the truth of the first son's death, reviving him in the process." the mercenary went on, "The dead son learned that his father was going to pursue his mad goals and condemned the plot, destroying the corporation his family built financially. The father died as punishment for his sins and the dead son left his host to forgive his father and lead them from the world. All that remains of the Evice Family is wealth yet unclaimed and the finances that the Cipher Corporation once held."

The Snagger looked up at him suspiciously and Red smiled, bringing his hand away to tap a finger to his own nose.

"Wesley Evice once stated that he made sure Cipher would cease to exist by sending out two gifts. These gifts were trust funds made in two separate names; Anca Fleur of Neon City, and Seth Evice of the Orre Region. The money came from the account of the Cipher Corporation, all its profits and assets liquidated down to pay for their evil schemes. The amount sent to Seth Evice totaled 345 million dollars, less than half of the total net sum of Cipher." he remarked. Seth's eyes widened and a faint squeak issued from his mouth, face paling as his hand lifted to cover his own mouth. "Upon registering the name of Seth Evice as the only surviving member of the Evice Family, financiers and attorneys began breaking down the Evice estate into liquid funds to be channeled into the trust fund for the sake of convenience. The money has yet to be added, but by my calculations the total amount of funds available for one Seth Evice of Orre should reach somewhere in the vicinity of 800 million dollars, once all is done." Red summed up and gazed at the opposite wall, "That was Wesley's gift to you in the hopes that you would fulfill your dreams as well as his, the restoration of Orre and marriage to the one you love. If money is all that stands between you and obtaining Rui's hand in matrimony, then you have no fears left. You are the richest man in Orre, Seth; truly, the Prince of the Desert."

Seth groaned and cradled his head in both hands, gripping it as if to keep it from exploding. This was all too much for him to take in. But now that weird e-mail Rui sent him made perfect sense. No wonder she wanted him home right away; with that amount of money, all he would have to do is flash a copy of the bank statement at her parents and they'd fall all over themselves to push them to a wedding chapel.

But it wouldn't feel right. He didn't want to just be handed huge sums of money when he was content to earn it himself, through battling or even an honest (or not so honest) job. And yet, how could he refuse a gift from Wesley, his namesake and the reason he lived and breathed, especially when he said that it was to be used to fulfill their dreams?

"But... he said that... the Roanes already promised Rui to him..." Seth managed to say thickly, struggling not to break down weeping again. Red shrugged, still rubbing the watch in his fingers.

"There's a flower that grows in the Sevii Islands that gives off a peculiar aroma." he remarked suddenly, catching Seth's eyes as he looked up at him in disbelief of the new subject, "I learned about it through several contacts I have. The natives say that whoever breathes in the scent feels drunken and compelled to obey any suggestions proposed to them in that state. The sap it produces counters the perfume and acts like an antidote, granting immunity if taken before coming in contact with the perfume. Kind of like a flower using Hypnosis through its scent." Seth's eyes widened again as Red asked a simple question, "Seth, tell me, with your enhanced senses, did you catch a whiff of the cologne that Apolo was wearing when he convinced you that you were nothing but trash?"

_"That bastard __**tricked**__ me!"_ the Snagger howled in a fury, leaping up and clawing the air, unleashing trails of fire as he slashed before himself, "He conned her parents into handing her over and then used it to force Rui into getting engaged to him, and then he used it on me to make me fall apart like some pansy Hoenn Trainer! That's how he got the girls to go with him without fighting!" Smoke wafted from his body as he finally brought his fists to his sides, smoldering in a fury as the light outside the cell brightened and the tile on the floor began to curl and crack from heat. Red flicked the watch in his hand, not even batting an eye as the light bulbs exploded from the overload caused by Drought. "All of this because of some stupid freaking perfume?! I should **kill** that son of a Houndour for this crap!" Seth hissed and spun around, glaring at Red even as dark blue wings burst into view from his back, reacting to the decaying boundary between his human half and the Raykyoudon half, feathers fluttering free.

"You really should control yourself and put those away. Don't want to give away **what** you are in addition to **who** you are." the mercenary remarked idly.

"I want my girlfriend back. I want out of here, and I want to trash this place and get my girl back!" the Snagger growled, flapping his wings in aggravation, "Now we can't use the plan you came up with in the beginning, so we'll have to improvise. How do we bust out of here so we can trash the ceremony and rescue the girls?" Red grinned at last, a feral smile that was worn once before, just before he revealed how Seth had defeated himself in the meadow.

"Thought you'd never ask." he remarked as he pressed his thumb on the face of his watch.

* * *

And out in the forest of Chrono Island, a small LED on Pikachu's harness lit up with a soft blue light. The mouse glanced down at it, then up at the Eons who sat before him attentively. They grinned in unison, teeth baring white in the darkness.

_"This is gonna be the best time of our lives."_


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Let me make this very clear to those of you who are watching for this story update. I have been DISCONNECTED FROM ALL FORMS OF INTERNET until further notice. I have no home, job, income or reliable way of making it to any wi-fi spot to do any uploading. This chance came purely because of someone asking for my husband's computer repair services and had the fortune of allowing us use of their internet access. So this chapter is the only one to be uploaded due to time and work constraints. I apologize for the time it took to post, but I am pretty much financially crippled. Fics don't make money for me, I write for the enjoyment of writing and sharing with others, but I have to turn to trying to survive now. Thank you all for the patience you have shown in waiting for an update and I apologize for the wait, so I hope this will tide you over until I can return. Whenever that will be.

* * *

Ch 13

~Hours earlier~

Pikachu led the two Eons deeper into the forest, remaining silent as he walked along on his hind legs. His ear twitched now and again, as though listening for something only he could hear. So far, all he could hear was the constant chatter and complaints of the twins following him. Finally, he spun around and glared up at them, cheeks sparking in irritation.

_"I can hear what you're saying back there! Knock it off!"_ he demanded. Pluto snorted once, tossing his head in disdain.

_"Tch, stupid Pikachu. You were **supposed** to hear it."_ the Umbreon returned dryly, _"If we're gonna be all pissed about this, then you can join the club."_ Jupiter sat down, nose lifting in equal contempt.

_"As far as I'm concerned, all this is just a bunch of bull. Pluto, let's dump the rat and head back to Seth. Chosen Master or not, we follow Seth's orders first."_ he added in. Pikachu growled softly, shaking his head.

_"You two have no clue what you're doing. Everything is part of Red's plan; even this separation!"_ the electric mouse pointed out scathingly, _"The least you can do is follow through so we can rescue the girls with no casualties!"_

_"Oh, but we **want** casualties!"_ Pluto returned with a vicious grin, _"Lots of them on that kidnapper's side! It'll be fuuuuun!"_ Pikachu sighed, rubbing a paw against his head. Reasoning with Pluto wasn't going to be going anywhere, and it was more futile to try it against Jupiter, who would only turn it back against him, given the chance.

The harness beeped suddenly and the mouse glanced down at it before turning back to face the forest again. That was the first signal; Red would be moving Seth further south to the appointed meeting place. It was Pikachu's job to keep the twin Eons out of the way so the Pincer's Clamp plan would go smoothly. Unfortunately, those same twins weren't making this part easy.

_"What's with the beep? Pick up something out here or what?"_ Pluto asked suddenly, peering at the harness first, then sniffing the wind, _"I'm not smelling anything recognizable...."_ His brother's ear twitched and the Espeon looked around himself before lifting his gaze to the rumbling storm-clouds above them. The rain hadn't let up at all; in fact, it seemed to be coming down more fiercely.

_"Do the islands always get storms like this? It doesn't feel normal."_ Jupiter remarked, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

_"The Sevii Islands are in one of the Tropic regions that circle the world. Storms are often of greater strength here than in the milder climates, more so to you guys since you're from Orre."_ Pikachu explained simply. He turned again, flicking his ears for a bit. A bolt of lightning cut over them, followed by the angry clap of thunder. The mouse sighed and began walking again. _"C'mon. We're going back."_ he told the Eons, _"Change of orders; we're going to follow the north-south route that Red and Seth took."_ Grinning in apparent victory, the Eons fell into step alongside him, eager to rejoin their comrade.

Halfway back to the jet, the storm went into a bizarre frenzy, spinning overhead in a fury as the winds kicked up, the rain turned to sleet and the island seemed to be put under attack by the very heavens. The Pokémon halted in surprise, even as Pikachu shot a glance down at his harness again, startled that the storm had enough power to drown out the second warning signal.

_"Okay, now I know for sure that this **isn't** a normal storm!"_ Jupiter snarled, shooting a furious glare at the electric mouse, _"This is something under Seth's power! What the hell is Red doing to him?!"_

_"This is friggin' COLD!"_ Pluto griped, hunching his shoulders and shivering under the sleet, _"In this kind of weather, Seth's not gonna be good at all for any kind of B and E!"_ The Espeon didn't wait for an answer from Pikachu, already bounding off to make a beeline for the Snagger. Pluto gave a start, then quickly gave chase. _"Hey! Jupe! Wait for me!"_

They didn't get very far. There was a bright flash of yellow light that appeared between, then before them, and Pikachu blocked off their path with a hiss, sparks of electricity dancing over his cheeks.

_"You are **not** to interfere with this part of Red's plan!"_ he snapped at the twins, _"We're trying to set up the Pincer's Clamp, and for that we need to get Seth inside the kidnapper's base! This storm, this battle, is part of that plot to get Seth in to start the Pincer's Clamp and the girls out to be secured!_

_"Once the girls are in Red's hands, he and Seth will finish off the kidnappers from both ends of the compound without any worries! You two and I are in charge of leading Flannery, Silver and Leaf back to the jet! That's why we're going this way!"_ The Eons glanced at each other before growling at Pikachu again.

_"And how the heck is Red supposed to get the girls if it's **Seth** that's going inside the base to start his half of the Clamp?!"_ Jupiter pressed, stepping forward as the gem on his forehead began to glow with psychic power. Pluto matched his steps, the rings on his body lighting up similarly.

_"Seth goes in as the girls come out? Know what that sounds like to me?"_ he growled fiercely, _"It sounds like a frickin' **exchange** of hostages!"_

_"More like a betrayal! Red's selling Seth out for the girls, isn't he?! THAT'S why the two of you have been acting like this!"_ the Espeon added angrily and lashed his head aside, firing a blast of Psychic at the mouse. Pikachu yelped as he took the hit, flying back several feet before touching ground again and letting loose his own attack, a powerful Thunder that scored the earth and sent the twins scattering to avoid injury.

_"Don't be stupid! We'd never betray you or Seth like that!"_ the mouse snapped back, _"Not without a **damn** good reason! If you only knew the plan, you'd understand!"_

_"Well, we **don't** know the stupid plan, so pardon us while we **kick your fuzzy yellow ass**!"_ Pluto snarled, darting in from the side and sinking his teeth into Pikachu's tail, startling the mouse into shrieking in pain at the Bite attack. The storm howled in a fury, the sleet beating down on the Pokémon as Jupiter darted forward and rammed his head into Red's faithful companion, unleashing a burst of energy that sent Pikachu tumbling, the result of a TM-based Return move.

_"Either you take us to Seth **right now**, or explain what the hell's going on, or Pluto and I will have a great deal of pleasure in beating the holy crap out of you."_ the Psychic Eon hissed, fur raised despite the freezing cold, his claws scraping earth as he advanced on the battered Pikachu. The mouse struggled, wincing as he got to all fours and lifted his tail, a sheen of light beginning to radiate from it.

_"Iron Tail. Heh, ready to call this island your deathbed, then?"_Pluto purred with a toothy grin.

Before any of the Pokémon could act on their next attacks, a rapid ringing suddenly went off on Pikachu's harness, startling the mouse out of his preparation for the Iron Tail. Pluto twitched slightly, shooting a glare at the black harness as Jupiter spared it a glance before refocusing on Pikachu.

_"What the hell is that noise for?"_ the Umbreon snapped in irritation.

_"Red's alarm! Something's happened to him!"_ Pikachu barked back and sat back on his haunches, little forepaws already working at the ensemble of buttons decorating the front of the harness. The ringing became a series of beeping sounds, a code of sorts that the mouse listened to intently. _"He's been captured along with Seth. Apolo's double-crossed us and wrecked the Pincer's Clamp we were setting up."_

_"What?!"_ Jupiter snarled, _"Who's got Seth?! What the hell's going on?!"_ Pikachu tapped at more buttons, listening to the resulting beeps.

_"I have permission now to tell you everything. Apolo Seuser, the man responsible for kidnapping the girls of the Johto, Hoenn, and Kanto regions, also captured a girl of Orre to gain control of that region as well."_ he began, his tone becoming surprised at the information, _"I didn't know that.... A-anyway, soon after Apolo took Silver and Leaf, he used them to control Red and ordered him to find the most influential girl in Orre. Instead, we sought help from Seth to rescue the girls so as to protect Orre and free the other regions. On the flight to the islands, plans changed. Apolo no longer wanted a girl of Orre; instead, he ordered Red to bring him Seth."_

_"Who was the girl of Orre that was captured?"_ Jupiter growled, _"If this jerk ordered Seth to be brought in, then could that girl be...?"_

_"Rui Roane. Apolo was able to kidnap her and learned of Seth's control over Orre's climate through her, but apparently he thinks that it's done with some secret weather machine. He's still clueless that Seth **is** the weather-controlling super-legendary we all know as Raykyoudon."_ Pikachu confirmed grimly, _"Red and I thought we could slip a radio communicator on Seth and allow him to be taken prisoner in exchange for the girls, since Apolo had agreed that the three girls could be traded for Seth's influence. We hadn't known at the time that Apolo had Rui, though from his knowledge of Seth we should have realized."_

_"Once Seth was imprisoned where Apolo was, you two were going to call him up in secret and coordinate for the Pincer's Clamp."_ Jupiter realized and narrowed his eyes, _"But you forget that none of us, Seth especially, takes kindly to betrayal. What made you think he'd trust you after you sold him to Apolo?"_

_"We weren't counting on trust, actually."_ Pikachu admitted in a surprisingly ashamed tone, _"Red was planning on first trying to convince Seth to follow us despite the exchange, and if he refused to listen, then he would use the Second Soul."_ Pluto growled at the plan, joining his twin in advancing on the Pikachu again.

_"So you were just gonna **order** him to obey? I oughta rip you to pieces here and now!"_ the Umbreon snarled. Pikachu glared at him, shaking his head as pieces of ice fell from his ears and fur.

_"That's not an option, and neither is our plan anymore. Apolo revealed he has Rui and took Red as prisoner along with Seth."_ the mouse explained tersely, _"And far worse than that, Apolo intends to make his acquisition of Rui permanent, by marrying her tonight, if not the morning."_ The Eons froze in place at the words, then erupted in shrieks of rage, lashing tails about as they clawed at the air. Pikachu waited impatiently, flicking his ears clean of ice and sleet as he brushed himself off. In some ways, he couldn't fault them for their fury. The Eons were rooting for Seth to finally marry Rui; considering all they had been through together, the match was the most natural thing in the world to them. Even Celebi had desired for them to be wed, so that Orre's protection would endure and she could prove to Nature that a Pokémon and a human could share love for one another beyond the bond of trainer and partner. To have Apolo snatch that away from the one person who suffered so much to earn his bit of happiness was infuriating to everyone involved. Even Pikachu himself was seething, but the twins were closer to Seth than he was, and thus their fury swallowed them so completely, they couldn't speak.

_"We want in. We want in there and we're tearing that guy a new one."_ Pluto growled, once he was able to speak coherently again.

_"You and me both, kid."_ Pikachu muttered, dropping to all fours with a wince, _"But you two did a pretty good number on me. Until I get some healing done on me, there's no way I can get into Apolo's hideout."_

_"We'll get in ourselves. We still have some thieves' tricks up our sleeves."_ Jupiter hissed, tail still lashing about behind him, _"Just get us to the target. Pluto and I will handle the rest."_ The mouse gave them a grim smile and nodded, turning to lead them through the rest of the forest, outlining a new plan for them as they hurried under the sleet and freezing rain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Within the hour, the three Pokémon stood in a copse near the tall building that was Apolo's hideout, a plan in place in their minds. At a signal from Red, who'd been clued in via the coded beeps he could hear through a small ear-piece he wore, Jupiter and Pluto were to make a run for the building and find themselves an entrance. Pikachu would cover them on the outside with blasts of electricity firing at any guards patrolling the grounds. On the inside, more guards would be distracted and rerouted from the doors by whatever actions Seth and Red would take. They would perform a Double Slap maneuver; Seth and Red would progress upwards from where they were being held in order to reach Apolo and stop the wedding. Jupiter and Pluto would race up after them, hitting the weakened forces a second time so any recovery that had been made would be completely undone. This would reduce Apolo's goon force to nearly nothing.

The twins sat before Pikachu, waiting for the signal from Red to start the attack. They had fidgeted for a bit, eager to get started, then put all their attentions on the harness so they could get going the moment they saw the blue light. Overhead, the storm continued on, as though in the same fury as the Eons and the Snagger over all that had happened. Apolo would pay dearly for crossing them this day.

The light went off and the twins smiled wickedly.

_"This is gonna be the best time of our lives."_ Pluto remarked snidely, and the two Eons whirled on their feet, darting out of the copse of trees and bushes in blurs of silver and black fur as they ran for the hideout, sending patrolling men to scatter in confusion over what they were. Pikachu remained behind, climbing a tree for better sighting and then unleashing bolts of electricity on the grounds, throwing more confusion and the danger of electrocution into the mix. Goons raced all over in a panic, sounding alarms where they could and firing into the shadows to try to get rid of the source of the electricity. The mouse only stayed on the move in the darkness, lashing about with ample Thundershocks.

The twins reached the complex and circled the building quickly, eyeing doors and windows for the best entry point. Pluto skidded to a halt at one window, barking to catch his brother's attention.

_"This one! This one! Jupe, room's empty!"_ he called and the Espeon returned, using psychic power to snatch up a forgotten rifle and smash it into the glass. They leaped through, shaking off the cold from outside and sneezing at the dust and bits of ceiling tile that fell from overhead as the building shook violently at random intervals.

_"Earthquake. Red must have a Pokémon using it in here."_ Jupiter remarked breathlessly as they ran through the open door and scanned the area for Apolo's minions. Another tremor and they bounced to ride it out without losing their footing. _"Or Seth could be working off some stress."_

_"I put my money on Seth. Come on! We gotta find some stairs and head up!"_ Pluto returned, darting down a hallway with the Espeon hot on his heels.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Breaking out of the jail cell had been pretty easy. As soon as Red pressed down on his watch, he had remarked with all the calm in the world that their partner Pokémon were all outside and ready to burst in to the rescue. All they needed to do was draw the attentions of the guards so the Eon twins would have a much easier time gaining entry. It took a split second for Seth to understand what Red was asking of him, and broke into a grin that rivaled his companions' toothy smiles.

"One violent distraction, coming up." the Snagger chuckled and lifted his hands as a faint red glow began to emanate from his palms, "Moments like this make me glad I am what I am. Makes blowing crap up **so** much more satisfying!" And he brought his palms forward, directing the glow at the prison bars in time for it to burst forth in a massive plume of red flames that swallowed the bars and set off the sprinkler system. Alarms rang as Seth kept up the Flamethrower through the pouring water, super-heating the metal until they glowed just as red as the aura surrounding the Snagger.

"Now, hit it with ice!" Red declared and Seth gave him an incredulous look.

"Excuse me?" he questioned in disbelief. Red only gave him a wide grin, looking more like an eager young trainer trying out his newest catch than the cold and distant mercenary he was accustomed to seeing.

"Ice Beam! Hit it with Ice Beam!" the dark-haired man exclaimed and Seth sighed, rolling his eyes.

"By the fires of Ho-oh, am I the only sane one left in here?" he muttered but ended the flames, shaking his hands off and replacing the red aura with a frost-blue one. Again he thrust his palms forward, shuddering from the cold as a ball of energy formed before his hands, firing the icy attack straight at the bars. "Hate the cold, hate the cold, hate the cold!" he yelled in a furious mantra as the metal began to crack and splinter.

"That's enough!" Red shouted, darting forward once Seth quickly dispelled the attack, grateful to not have to deal with it any longer. The former Kanto Champion kicked at the bars, shattering the metal and creating a large enough hole for the two of them to get through. "Hah! Knew it'd work again! I tried a stunt like that when I was a kid." he explained with a grin and jumped through the gap, "Let's go! Our Pokémon should be on their way in; we have to reach the top and get the girls."

Snagger and mercenary both ran for the stairs, dispatching whatever guards came at them with the help of a few of Red's little 'toys' and Seth's innate abilities. He seemed to especially enjoy using Earthquake, jumping in place and slamming his feet into the floor to send the entire building into tremors. That really threw the goons for a loop.

"You might want to tone it down a little." Red remarked as they spun around a corner and moved up another flight of stairs, watching for any attempted surprise attacks from above, "You don't want to tear the whole place down on us before we can finish what we came to do." Seth huffed, a feral grin on his face as his visor shielded his eyes from the falling dust.

"We'll be fine. I just wanna make that pansy leak all over his fancy-pants suit before I get Rui out of there. Show him who rains on who's parade." he replied with a laugh. Red chuckled, shaking his head.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side. Again." he remarked as they reached the next floor. The two men came to a halt, staring at a row of goons that blocked the hallway with a full set of Pokémon before them. Grinning maliciously behind them was their group leader.

"End of the line, boys! Mr. Seuser had a feelin' you'd be pullin' some fancy stunt, so's he's gonna be takin' the Orre girl with 'im to the mainland!" he declared smugly, "They're gonna be meeting with a pastor and gettin' hitched soon as they land!" Seth snarled in a fury, about to stomp forward when Red thrust out an arm to halt him.

"What?! But there's a storm right over us! There's no way he can fly out of here!" the older man demanded, "How the hell is Apolo supposed to leave the Sevii Islands in **this** weather?!" The group leader laughed.

"Maybe I'll tell ya, if you can survive these guys! Get 'em, guys!" he shouted in anticipated triumph. Ground Pokémon stomped their weight against the floor, Flying Pokémon flapped their wings furiously, and Red held his ground with a grin before calling out to the group.

"All Pokémon, return!" he ordered, "You know who I am!" The attacks halted immediately, with several squawks and cries of surprise and alarm, then every last Pokémon, from the graceful Altaria to the lumbering Ryperior, retreated into their respective Poké Balls, refusing to emerge no matter how much they were thrown. Seth blinked at them, then smirked up at the older trainer.

"Nice trick." he quipped and Red shrugged, his grin still in place.

"Chosen Master has its perks." he replied and crooked a finger at the dumbfounded leader of the now disarmed team halting their progress. "You. Come here. I want to have a little exchange of information with you." he purred darkly, the smirk turning more sinister with the slightest baring of teeth as he advanced on the men and women. The Snagger leaned against the wall, watching with hostile glee as Red promptly pounded each goon down and pinned their group leader with a toothy smile.

Apparently, he'd had enough of the smile to last him for life, as the goon broke down and blurted out all he knew of Apolo's plans. Upon hearing the alarms go off that Red and Seth had broken free, the businessman grabbed Rui from her drugged sleep and hopped a Fearow down to the ground, dashing off for the docks to reach a private yacht that would speed him through the waters towards mainland Kanto. Everyone else had been left behind to act as distractions for the two of them so Apolo could escape with his crown jewel, the Soulful Eyes of Orre. As far as anyone understood, Rui's marriage to Apolo would force the Prince of the Desert to turn over control of the weather-control device called Raykyoudon.

Red punched him once, hard, in the face to put him down after thanking him for the information.

"Hell, in this weather, that little boat can still sink." he griped, "Not good. Not good at all." He turned back to the Snagger, who stood stunned by the plot details. "Seth! Can't you halt the storm?!" Seth snapped back to focus at the sound of his name.

"Wha-?" he murmured dumbly. Red gestured overhead as they ran on down the hall to the next staircase.

"The storm! It could sink the yacht! Can you halt it with your abilities?!" he snapped back, the two men darting up stairs as fast as they could.

"I'll have to get outside to take a look at it first! Too hard a shift in the weather system and I could damage the islands and their climate!" Seth returned breathlessly. He swallowed hard. "Last thing I want is more deaths on my hands because of the power of Raykyoudon." he added grimly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jupiter and Pluto stepped lightly around the fallen grunts and battered Pokémon as they chatted about the future wedding, plotting out who to hit up for free treats and snacks. On occasion Jupiter would pause in his part of the talk to turn and blast a still twitching grunt with a shot of Psychic.

_"Where was I? Oh, yeah...."_ he returned absently as the Eons moved on to the stairs, _"So after they have themselves a couple of kids, what do you think should be next on the agenda? Getting Orre to recognize Snaggers as an official Trainer type?"_ Pluto cocked his head to one side, thinking it over while they trotted up the steps to the next floor and hopped onto the gut of dazed man.

_"Considering how Hoenn's got Coordinators and Kanto and Johto are picking up on it, plus there are Breeders everywhere...?"_ he remarked, hopping down from the grunt and following Jupiter to the next hallway, _"I say, hells yeah. Give them Trainers something to really worry about when they show up at Orre Colosseum and Mt. Battle."_ The Psychic Pokémon ahead stopped suddenly and lifted his head, gazing up at the ceiling with such intensity that Pluto had to stop and go back after accidentally passing him by. _"Eh? Jupe? What's up?"_

The Eon didn't answer, just watching the ceiling with a small frown that grew deeper with each passing second.

_"He's not happy. Something's gone wrong."_ Jupiter finally murmured. Pluto flicked his ears worriedly.

_"With the Double Slap? Or... the girls? Rui?"_ the Umbreon questioned in concern. Jupiter continued studying the ceiling, listening, before shaking his head and bounding forward.

_"With Rui! Something's gone wrong with Rui's rescue! C'mon! We have to hurry and catch up to Seth!"_ he called back and his twin raced to keep up, dashing for the next set of stairs.

~*~*~*

Rui stumbled through the underbrush as Apolo pulled her along towards the docks, the man muttering indignantly about the Fearow's inability to stay airborne properly in the storm winds. The two of them had to walk the rest of the way to the docks. Through the rain and chilling sleet, they hurried to the little port where the waves rocked against the beach, the pier, and the private yacht reserved just for Apolo's use.

"It won't do you any good to take me farther and farther away from Seth!" Rui blurted out as the cold helped shock her out of her drugged stupor, "Wherever you take me, he'll find me! He'll save me and you'll never take control of Orre or any of the other regions!"

Apolo only continued muttering to himself, pulling her towards the yacht, ignoring the waves that crashed against its sides.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Seth watched anxiously as Red carried each of the girls from their rooms and brought them together in the lounge that Apolo used for his personal suite. Flannery held her head in her hands, mumbling to herself; Leaf only continued dozing, curled up peacefully with her hand near her mouth. The Snagger noted how Red lingered a bit over his young half-sister before going to check on Silver. The Johto Champion was still trying to get her senses back in order, clutching a small bottle of smelling salts in one hand.

"Ugh... first chance I get, I'm punching that guy so hard he's gonna wish he'd never heard the name Silver Summers!" she groused. Red sighed, shaking his head with a wry grin.

"Don't worry, Silver; he'll get his." he assured his fianceé before turning to Seth, "How's the weather? Can you change it or calm it?" The Snagger turned his head, gazing out of the huge windows at the storm worriedly.

"This storm's too angry. Trying to shift it could just make it worse." he returned and closed his eyes, frowning, "And I don't want to calm it. If the weather settles, that gives Apolo free reign to escape with Rui. At least with this storm he'll have to take it slow." He looked over at Red with a grim smile. "We'll lose a bit of time, but with the storm slowing him and my use of Air Lock immediately around your jet, we'll be able to catch up and rescue Rui." Red seemed to consider that, tapping a finger against his chin. Then he grinned slyly, turning the look on the young man.

"How about you start the chase? I'll catch up with you in the jet once I've brought the girls on board?" he suggested, laughing at the startled expression on Seth's face.

"Me? With what? I came with you!" the Snagger exclaimed and Red laughed harder.

"The great Snagger of Orre has forgotten about his other self? Seth, you numbskull, you've got wings, remember?!" the older man returned and gestured towards the window, "Don't be afraid; embrace the side of you that is Pokémon and give chase! Don't let Apolo take your love away!"

Seth followed his gesture, staring at the window for a long second before turning another startled gaze at the mercenary.

"Fly?! On my wings?! I've only ever glided on them!" he blurted out and sighed miserably, "But I don't want Apolo to get away.... Maaaan. What the hell did I do to deserve this?" Silver stood shakily, glaring at the young man.

"So you're just gonna let them get away?!" she growled, ignoring Red's startled yelp and motion to help her steady herself, "You're just going to let that guy snag Rui, marry her and ruin her life?! What kind of hero are you, then? She believed in you, believed you would save her!" Seth watched her, face growing paler with each shout. "Don't you know what she went through for you?! She tried to kill herself for you, you ingrate! You at least have the backing of Nature to drag your ass back to life if you get killed being stupid, but she's human! Just like the rest of us!"

There was silence then, long and awkward as the storm went on howling over them. Seth said nothing, just turned away from the group to gaze out of the windows again. A door opened and the twin Eons poked their noses in, looking around quickly before running for the Snagger, twining around his legs with worried yips and barks before sitting down and gazing up at him in concern.

"Gather the girls and their Pokémon, then head back to the jet." Seth finally ordered in a calm, dark voice, "I'm going after Apolo." He spread his arms, allowing his Raykyoudon self to rise up and take over, wings folded over him like a cape and startling both Kanto and Johto Champions with the transformation. "Jupiter, Pluto, help out Red and the girls in their escape. I'll be back with Rui."

"Leave Apolo to me. I'll pick him up in the jet." Red called out as the Snagger pushed open a window to expose the room to the storm. The legendary looked back, grimly, nodding once while the Eons bounded over to join the mercenary.

"Will do. Once for me, alright?" he added with a grin and turned back to the open expanse of dark sky and brow beaten island. Flying; he'd only ever glided, or fluttered his wings to enhance his jumps. To actually fly, spread his wings and take to the air and not touch ground again until his mission above is accomplished, would be a new and frightening experience. Raykyoudon took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he opened his wings up. "Okay, here goes." he murmured and leaped out the window, ignoring Silver's cry of alarm and disbelief.

Once, twice, then again, the Prince of the Desert pumped his wings and took to the air, soaring through the fury of the storm and riding the winds out to sea, in search of his stolen princess.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

A single little yacht struggled against the choppy waves of the ocean, making its way towards the mainland in a slipshod course, tossed about by the raging waters and the storm that seemed to turn from the Sevii Islands after them. Apolo kept watch at the helm, striving to keep the yacht under control as he muttered angrily to himself about the weather conditions. Rui gripped the nearby pieces of furniture that were bolted to the little ship, peeking out of the window each chance she had in the hopes that she would see someone coming towards them for help.

"Give it up, dearie." Apolo finally remarked, spotting her on yet another search for help, "There is no possible way that anyone else would have the type of equipment and vehicle that I do to travel in this weather. You and I will make landfall at Kanto and we'll be wed within that very day. All we have to do is make sure this nuisance of a storm doesn't delay our arrival much longer." Rui glared at him, braced against a wall as her still wet hair clung to her cheeks and shoulders.

"You don't seem to get it, do you, Mr. Seuser?" she hissed back, "You've crossed Seth, **my** Seth, the Prince of the Desert. There is **nothing** in this world that can stop him from coming after me and teaching you not to underestimate the power of the Orre region!"

* * *

"Hate the cold, hate the cold, hate the cold..." Raykyoudon muttered under his breath despite immediately placing an Air Lock around himself to shear away the effects of his storm. He was also way up in the air, flying over the ocean, in search of his kidnapped girlfriend, but he didn't want to focus on the height so he just continued imagining that he was still under assault by the frigid winds and sleet. "Hate the cold, hate the cold... why the hell's it always gotta be so cold?"

At least he didn't tire himself out so much from flapping his wings. When he needed a burst of wind to carry him a distance, he would drop the Air Lock and ride the storm winds, banking here and there to keep himself directed. The most he knew about Rui's whereabouts were that she was on a yacht with that smarmy businessman and they were heading for the mainland. That... wasn't much to go on.

"Geh... what a time to ask for directions..." Raykyoudon grumbled, dipping down to the ocean and bracing himself for the shock as he submerged, tail lashing about to keep him steady against the swells and buffeting waves. It sent him swirling about initially, his hands scrabbling at the water uselessly to reorient himself as his breathing shifted to pull oxygen from the water. He wasn't ever going to get used to that, more so since that was kind of a first for him.

A school of Finneon rushed by, hurrying to get to calmer waters, and Raykyoudon gave chase, pulling up alongside the group as his wings tucked themselves close to his body.

"Hey! Have either of you seen a small yacht or boat pass by here in the past hour or so?" he asked the group. One of the Pokémon gave him a quick glance before flicking a fin in one direction.

_"That way. On its way towards Kanto."_ it returned, _"If your trainer's on there, better hurry. It won't last long in this storm."_ Raykyoudon winced; just what he needed, a guilt trip over this storm of his.

"Thanks." he offered aloud and swam off to build up his speed. Getting into the ocean was the easy part. Launching himself back out and into the air, not so easy. His tail thrashed furiously, gathering speed as the legendary lifted his face in determination, pulling his arms back to streamline himself. The waters burst forth, Raykyoudon taking to the air in a graceful leap that allowed him the ability to flare his wings, pumping air to gain altitude once more.

He gestured slightly, forcing the storm to rise higher as well, shredding some of its strength so as to lessen the effects it posed on the ocean. It wouldn't give Apolo any advantages, but it would keep the waves from having the strength to capsize his yacht. With that and a renewed Air Lock whirling around himself, Raykyoudon sped towards Kanto, searching the sea once again.

* * *

The dark clouds refused to move aside, the winds sending wave after wave to crash constantly against the little yacht. Rui gripped one of the barstools bolted to the floor, arms hugging it tightly as the boat pitched from side to side. Apolo was ignoring her for the most part, muttering curses under his breath while struggling with the helm. He no longer looked immaculate and suave, soaked and in a disarray from the storm and the violence of the storm, a furious expression on his face.

It took Rui a few moments to realize that the waves and the pitching weren't as bad as before, and confusion marred her face before lighting up with joy. For a storm to die down like this, just a bit to ease up on her captor's boat, it had to be Seth's doing! It just had to!

Against her better judgment, the redhead scrambled to her feet and staggered towards one of the windows, gripping the sill and pushing it open.

"Seth! I'm over here!" she screamed into the ocean air, ignoring the sting of the winds and the salty spray, "I'm here! Help!"

"Get the hell away from there, you little wretch!" Apolo snapped at her, fed up with her defiance of his plans, "He's not out there! My men will have already taken care of him and if not, he is still trapped on that miserable island! Red's little jet can't fly in this weather and there are no other sea-worthy vessels!" Rui ignored the man, calling out into the air for the Snagger. "Stop deluding yourself!" he yelled again and she finally whirled around, glaring at him.

"No, **you** stop deluding yourself!" she mocked bitingly and glanced back out the window, letting a smile cross her face that Seth would have been proud of, "You don't know anything about the one I love." Rui turned the smile on Apolo, settling herself down as if she were the one in control. "Seth may not be able to cross the ocean, but Raykyoudon can. And as the one in command of Raykyoudon, he will send it forth to rescue me."

The businessman stared at her, incredulous expression painting his face, and Rui only smiled wider, bringing her fingertips up to her heart, her eyes shining with mirth.

"If Seth is the Prince of the Desert, then Raykyoudon is the Soul of Orre. He is my Knight when my Prince is unable to come for me." she purred and tilted her head, "And you've brought him upon you."

The wind suddenly shrieked and Apolo jumped, eyes going wide and wild at the sound. Rui twitched just a bit, wondering if Seth might be taking the whole thing a bit too far. After all, she didn't want to end up falling into the ocean either. The yacht's engines stalled and Apolo immediately tried to get it started again, twisting the key frantically until it snapped in two.

"Apolo! Get your ass out here and give me Rui!" a voice raged outside, barely heard over the wind's howl. The businessman gave a very noticeable twitch, hand going to a small drawer nearby to pull something out, and Rui couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her mouth as he turned to stare at the ceiling of the yacht like he could see through it at whatever was yelling outside.

* * *

Raykyoudon scowled down at the little yacht that had been so much trouble for him to find. Finally, he was within reach of his beloved. All he had to do was make sure she was out of the cabin so he could nab her, then... do something very awful to Apolo that wouldn't traumatize Rui at the same time. The waves battering the yacht around was making it difficult for him to stay close to it easily, and he grumbled to himself about the work he had to put into managing the elements as he carefully extended his Air Lock to include the yacht. The rocking came to a slow stop, Raykyoudon breaking down the incoming waves of water when the Air Lock failed to slow them enough. Once it was stable, he turned his focus to the rest of the storm, lifting it further into atmosphere and pushing it towards the open ocean. It would be weaker and spend the rest of its energy out where it couldn't crash into some poor island or another.

"Apolo! I want her out here, now!" he shouted down at the boat again, "You do **not** want me to come in there and get her myself!"

The door finally flew open and the businessman stepped out, pushing Rui before her as a human shield, the girl wincing at her arm being twisted behind her back. Apolo kept looking around himself, trying to figure out where the source of the voice was coming from. Raykyoudon spilled enough air from his wings to dip further into view, glaring at Rui's kidnapper.

"Up here, you sorry excuse of a human!" he called out, grinning savagely at the startled expression on Apolo's face when he jerked his head up, spotted him, and realized that it was a Pokémon of all things that had made the demand.

"Wh-what the hell are you?" the businessman yelled, holding Rui in front of him. The legendary tilted his head, the same smile on his face.

"Depends on who you are. Let Rui go, and I'm a fairly merciful Pokémon." he returned and raised a hand towards the yacht's cabin, the glowing blue rings of Water Pulse firing from his open palm and demolish it, sending wood and fiberglass flying into the ocean. Rui held up her hands as a shield, shutting her eyes against the contained explosion, Apolo ducking behind her for protection. "Keep your mitts on her, and you have one ticked Weather Master breathing down your neck." Raykyoudon finished with a hiss, dipping down enough to actually land on the deck of the yacht. The businessman glared at him, holding Rui before himself still.

"I thought the young Mr. Evice was called the Weather Master." he pointed out suspiciously. Raykyoudon gave a small huff.

"He's called that because of who he is. **I'm** the one who rules the land, the sea, and the sky." he returned cryptically and narrowed his eyes, "You still have Rui. Let her go." Apolo held the redhead close with one hand, the other reaching behind his back. A smile began growing on his face.

"Obviously, you don't know anything about me." he purred, "Does your trainer know you nearly destroyed the yacht holding his lovely lady prisoner?" Raykyoudon glared more fiercely.

"I **don't** have a **trainer**." he growled, "I am the legendary Pokémon of Orre; no one **owns** me." Apolo grinned hugely.

"Perfect! Then that means my investment in a Master Ball won't go to waste!" he declared, whipping out the item he'd taken from the drawer in the cabin. Rui screamed in alarm; Seth's reaction to any Poké Ball was never tested and was one of many unknowns about his other self that had yet to be understood. Raykyoudon's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed, the legendary growling louder, wings spreading wide as he dropped the Air Lock. The waves rocked the yacht once more, the last of the storm still dropping its load of rain upon them.

"Don't use it!" Rui cried, struggling to get free and knock the ball away, "Raykyoudon! Get away!"

"Not without you, Rui!" the legendary yelled in return, glaring between the familiar Master Ball and Apolo's ingratiatingly smug grin, "You _know_ what I am! Trust in me!" She stared at him, fear plain on her face and the rain mingling with tears on her cheeks. Raykyoudon turned to her, his own eyes glowing gold in the dim light. "You trusted me to come back to you before." he murmured softly, "Trust me again."

Rui bit her lip, eyes watering again. A Master Ball. The perfect capture ball. Seth was a Pokémon with human DNA, or was it the other way around? She wasn't very sure at times. Nett would know better; he was far more understanding of the Project: WSLY files. Could a Master Ball hold a super-legendary Pokémon? Especially one that held the genes of a human in his body? _Is_ human most of his days?

"With this, I'll have the Soulful Eyes of Orre **and** the Soul of Orre, all under my power!" Apolo exclaimed with a mad laugh, pressing the button to expand the ball and prepare it for capture, "With both of you, I'll descend upon the five regions and rule them all! Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Orre and Sinnoh! I'll be king of them all!" Raykyoudon snarled at him, clenching his hands into fists as he stood fast before them.

Rui closed her eyes, inhaling shakily before her face smoothed from fear to determination. She whipped her head around, glaring up at the businessman.

"I dare you." she hissed furiously, "I **dare** you to throw that at him and see the power of the Soul of Orre!" Apolo scowled at her and she smiled defiantly. "I don't belong to you, and Raykyoudon is my Knight. We'll both be returning to Orre with Seth, **my** Seth!" she taunted, "So go ahead! Throw it! Throw it and see!"

Apolo's face twisted with fury, his mask of the demure and charming businessman gone now. He hurled the Master Ball with a yell, Raykyoudon bracing himself for it, his wings curling down to act as a makeshift shield instinctively. Rui shut her eyes, praying as the ball sailed through the air towards the transformed Snagger.

It touched on his wing and popped open, the net of energy lashing out and dancing over Raykyoudon's body. Apolo grinned wider, certain that the perfect capture ability would guarantee him victory in the meeting. From behind the half-folded wings, Raykyoudon locked gazes with the man, matching his smile with a savage grin of his own.

The Master Ball dropped to the deck, buzzing an alarm that caught Apolo by surprise and drew his attention away from the legendary. The net of energy rippled again, looking almost like it was struggling to hold him. The buzzing grew louder, the net began to form erratically, and then...

It shattered.

_"What?"_ Apolo cried in horror, eyes wide with shock as the Master Ball burst apart, the net failing to hold Raykyoudon and dissipating, washed away by the dying rain. His wings folded back into place, draping over him in their usual cloak-like manner, and he stood there, smiling. Apolo pointed at him shakily, his face pale. "Th-that's impossible! The Master Ball is perfect! It never fails to capture a Pokémon; even legendaries are nothing before it!"

"I told you." Rui remarked in an eerily soft voice, a smile on her face as she twisted her arm free and backed away from the stunned businessman towards Raykyoudon, "Don't underestimate Orre. We may not be as powerful as Kanto, as lush as Johto, as vibrant as Hoenn, or any other region. But Orre possesses something the other regions don't; the iron will of the desert embodied in my Prince." She stood by the legendary, who rested a hand on her shoulder. Surprised, Rui looked up at him, blinking cutely despite their situation.

Raykyoudon's smile stayed in place. Oh, **this** was going to be deliciously sweet. He had wanted to do something that would completely ruin Apolo before Red arrived to haul him away. **This** would definitely do it. The sound of the sleek black jet broke into the silence of the night, stark against the waves sloshing against the sides of the yacht and the wind passing over them all, reminding him that the older man was searching for him and the businessman, very probably using his Second Soul to seek him out.

"Hey, Apolo, mangy son of a Hondour..." Raykyoudon called out, snapping the man's attention away from Rui and back to himself. The Pokémon tilted his head, golden eyes gleaming almost maliciously at him. "Nobody steals from the Snagger of Orre." he purred, letting the DNA of Raykyoudon slip back into dormancy and bringing forth his human side, taking in the sight of Apolo's increasing horror as Seth stood in place of the super-legendary, one arm wrapped around Rui protectively as she gave him a startled look. "I'll clean you out and have you regretting ever laying eyes on us." the Snagger finished.

Apolo gaped, mouth open and slack as he pointed again at him. He stepped back, once, then twice, a bubble of hysterical laughter rising from his throat to finally burst out of him.

"You're human! You're _human_!" he babbled, laughing as he sank to his knees, "That's why! That's why it failed! Truly, you **are** the Prince of the Desert!" Rui cringed, clinging to Seth as he hugged her protectively and kept a sharp gaze focused on the man.

He was still laughing when Red's jet touched down by the yacht to take them all in.

* * *

Everyone was eager to get back to their proper places in the regions, already making phone calls and sending off messages to loved ones, letting them know that they were safe, they would be home soon. Ein busied himself with preparing meals -without the additives that had thrown off Seth's attributes this time- and grumbled over the fact that Apolo was now trussed up and mumbling incoherently in a cramped little space by Seth's speeder, which offended him for some reason or another.

Red decided that it would be best to take Seth and Rui back to Orre immediately. After all, the situation with Rui's parents had to be dealt with, as well as Seth's newly uncovered inheritance and status in the region. The Snagger still was reeling from that, another delayed reaction that had been put off until he could get Rui back from her kidnapper. The other girls smiled in collective amusement as they looked on the Orre natives from their huddle on one of the beds in the jet. Since rescuing the redhead from the yacht, Seth had yet to take his arms from around her, and the two sat side by on another narrow bed, propped against the wall as they dozed together, her head on his shoulder and his arms holding her close. Jupiter and Pluto curled up beside them, resting after their part in the plan on Chrono Island. They, too, watched the couple with amused expressions.

"And to think, he's trying to put together everything he needs to propose to her." Leaf sighed dreamily, clasping her hands together as her eyes shone, "He came flying out to rescue her and take her home. It's so romantic!" Silver grinned, folding her arms over her chest as she considered the Orre teens.

"They're perfect for each other. They've got everyone's blessings, even Celebi's and Wes's." she remarked and chuckled, "Ho-Oh knows how much influence **those** two have had on them." Flannery nodded, smiling wistfully.

"All they have to do is convince her parents that them being together is the best. I didn't know that arranged marriages still happened anywhere." she mused aloud and rested a cheek on one hand, "Wonder how they'll react to finding out that a Pokémon thief is the richest man in Orre?"

The Snagger shifted slightly and the three girls held their breaths, sighing in relief when he settled back into sleep. Glancing at one another, the trainers smiled, then giggled, resuming their chatter about romance and weddings and their two friends with softer voices.

* * *

The desert region of Orre welcomed the black jet with calm weather and clear skies. Seth rode his speeder down from the ramp onto the familiar sands as Rui stepped down via the jet's disembarking steps. Both turned their faces up to soak in the sunlight, smiling at the rare gentle wind that greeted their return. Silver, Flannery, Leaf and Red also joined them, the jet having landed on the outskirts of Zirconia City.

"So this is Orre?" Flannery remarked, looking around herself in awe, "Boy, you've got your work cut out for you when it comes to fixing this place up." Seth had been briefed by Rui that her new friends from Hoenn and Kanto knew of his secret, and he shrugged at the Gym Leader's comment.

"Maybe, maybe not." he returned and looked down at the bank statement Rui had pressed into his hands when they landed in Orre, "I could establish a new terra-forming business with this and have them help me out. Realgam Tower's moisture collection system can be brought back online. There are a lot of things this money can do to help us get Orre reformed into the paradise Wes dreamed of for everyone."

"Show it to the Roanes first, Seth." Red advised, hands shoved in his pockets as Pikachu perched on his shoulder with a wise grin, "It's the proof that you hold status as the Prince of the Desert." Seth blinked at him in surprise. "With it, all their arguments for keeping you and Rui apart will dissolve." the man pointed out. Silver snorted, waving a hand dismissively and startling both Snagger and former Kanto Champion.

"That's not gonna be enough! Rui, what were the conditions again?" she asked of the redhead. Rui sighed, recalling those conditions her parents had placed on Seth in an attempt to dissuade him from courting her. They seemed like they were branded into her memory.

"A proper home, a reliable job, proper transportation, and plenty of money to support me." she counted off on her fingers, nose wrinkling in distaste, "Seth's speeder is just fine! He's a reformed Snagger, and that's good enough for me! He's got a house set for us in Phenac, and I don't care whether he's got money or not!" She threw her arms around Seth, startling him and causing his face to turn bright red, the twin Eons sitting in their sidecar on the speeder uttering little barks that sounded suspiciously like snickers. "I love Seth for who he is!" Rui declared. The group laughed at the scene.

"Yeah, yeah, we know!" Silver agreed, "But let's give him some _oomph_ to really get your parents to shut up and accept the fact that he's proposing to you and that you two should be together!" The other girls lit up in realization.

"Oh my gosh!" Flannery exclaimed brightly, her whole body literally trembling with excitement, "We get to go _shopping_ in this city? We're having a makeover for Seth!"

"By the fires of Ho-Oh, why couldn't Wes have waited until after all **this** to leave my body?" Seth sighed miserably, wilting as he cast a desperate glance at Red for help. The other man only gave him a bemused grin, shrugging helplessly.

"Sorry. I'm outnumbered here." he remarked, "Just smile and suffer through it. Who knows? You might like the results." He laughed at Seth's dismayed expression.

* * *

Zirconia City was in for a startling wake up call, as Silver, Flannery, Leaf and Rui all dragged Seth from shop to shop, armed with a freshly issued bank card stamped with his name, a name that was now irrevocably official on all documents pointing towards him thanks to the efforts of Red and Wes from beyond the grave. Seth Evice -the sound of it still made him flinch, but he was getting used to it now, now that he could replace the previously nasty association of it with his admiration for Wes- could only attempt to keep up the pace with the girls. Legitimate shopping for things other than Pokémon supplies and food was still a fairly new and foreign thing to him, so that left much of the purchasing power to Rui and her group of friends.

The shop owners had an abrupt change of heart once it dawned on them that Seth now carried an account card bearing the logo of the Orre Regional Bank, the high-end Deluxe Platinum Premier card, no less. The Snagger managed to hold back a sneer at the sudden influx of attention and hospitality towards him; these same people had snubbed him only two weeks ago when he had asked around for employment. He stood before a trio of mirrors, watching apprehensively as Rui and Silver both searched the racks of fine suits for clothes that they felt would be best on him. Sitting on a bench nearby, chatting happily as they traded Pokémon info, Leaf and Flannery relaxed in the comforts of obliviousness, unruffled by the extravagant surroundings. Seth longed for escape, but was firmly kept in place by the stern gazes of his twin Eons and the tailor assigned to him by the shop-owner.

"This is stupid. What's wrong with my normal clothes?" he demanded of the girls as they held up hangers of various suits and coats to show him.

"We're trying to give the impression that you're totally loaded and can throw cash around like it's nothing." Silver told him bluntly, "That outfit you have now _screams_ 'Give me the woman or die', and not many in-laws like that sort of thing. Personal experience." Seth just pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead.

"Ugh. Fine, whatever. Just don't make me look fruity." he griped.

"You'll look fine! You're getting the best money can buy!" Flannery called out brightly.

"Don't **say** that! _Uuugh~!_ Now I feel dirty..."

* * *

After getting the clothes to make him look the part of wealthy young royalty, and Seth had loudly protested the idea of parting with the Snag Machine for even the few minutes he would be wearing the suit until Rui relented and said it would probably be best for all involved if he just kept it on then, the group went searching for a proper vehicle that could convince the Roanes that Rui had the ability to move freely on her own.

The dealer just about sang praises to Seth as he showed off the finest cars and desert rovers in the lot, each one loaded with luxury and sporting price tags of five digits or more. The Snagger was already gagging mentally at the suits he was forced to buy, the cost for each one had made him balk at the idea of actually buying them. He could feed his Pokémon for half a year with the amount of money he spent on just one of those things! These rovers made his head spin with all the luxuries and enhancements until he finally sat himself down on one of the dealer's plush designer chairs and waved at Rui in a daze. He vaguely heard himself tell her to just pick something she'd like to drive and he'd buy it for her.

Oh, Lugia's breath, did he just say that out loud? He gave a little shudder; next he'd be walking around with his hands hanging limp and his hips swinging about like some rich doddering widow.

_"This takes all the fun out of casing a joint."_ Pluto sighed in boredom, resting his head on Seth's knee as he and Jupiter chose to opt out of the girls' fun. Rui flitted from car to car, examining each one with the help of the other trainers, each one climbing into the vehicles with her and oohing or ahhing over everything they saw. Gym Leaders made a tidy amount of money running their Gyms, but Flannery was a practical girl, so the extravagance of Zirconia's elites was just as new and exciting to her as it was for Leaf, who lived on the modest and erratic pay of an up and coming Pokémon Trainer. Silver, being the Johto Champion and betrothed to the Kanto Champion -former Champion though officially he was still their Champion until otherwise stated-, had a good deal of wealth on her side and indulged in a luxury or two on occasion, but the majority of her money went to good causes and helping support her family.

In all, they giggled and cooed over the chance to be treated like the most elite of elites while in Rui and Seth's company, and with Rui the only one of them who was most comfortable with money and the spending of it, she clearly took charge and showed them how to have fun. Seth couldn't deny her that, and he gave her a weak but genuine smile when she waved at him from the driver's seat of a desert rover that had a flatbed large enough to hold his speeder comfortably.

"I know. But she's enjoying herself and it's all to help win over her parents, so there's not much we can do but hang on and pray we still have our brains intact when they're done with us." he returned under his breath, sharing a fairly weary look with his loyal team.

The rover was purchased and directions were given to deliver it to the house in Phenac that Seth had managed to get in his dealings with the mayor. For now, the group sat at a café, sipping at gourmet drinks while they discussed the next step. Seth had a glass of water, nursing it while he tried not to focus too much on the idea that he was essentially being re-molded to fit the profile of an upper class socialite just to sway the Roanes. He flinched slightly as he thought back to the many shops he'd just been dragged through. At each one, Rui had introduced him as her boyfriend, Seth Evice. That part he didn't have any problem with; he shared Wes's name, along with his face, so he was getting used to carrying the family name. What was really beginning to make him twitch was the title Rui had given him that she also announced him as to each person, the little pet name she had given when they first met now stuck to him like stubborn chewing gum. The Prince of the Desert.

Long ago, the Evice Family could have been considered 'royalty' of a sorts. Corporate royals who had heavy investments in Orre, practically bought the whole region, and whose funding and projects were the foundation for all the settlements. It was understandable that, even after the scandals of Wes's death and the fall of the Cipher Corporation towards criminal activity, the name Evice was still considered powerful and highly connected. So hearing Seth's name and the title 'Prince of the Desert' spoken in one breath had the unfortunate effect of locking it into place and securing its legitimacy.

Seth watched with some resignation as the shop owners all gossiped and passed word along until he could hear it being whispered by the people in the café around him. The royalty of Orre had returned, the Prince of the Desert was claiming his inheritance and now toured Zirconia City with an entourage of potential brides. It made him want to weep, but his personal standards were against it. Crying was a sign of weakness, and the last thing he needed was to show a weakness to the Roanes that they could use against him.

He indulged in sulking while the girls chattered brightly over various drinks that Seth thought were too fruity and pricey to be called 'drinks'. Seven dollars for coffee and cream? What did they put in there, gold sprinkles? He slid a slight glare towards the mug in Rui's hand that was topped with a mountain of whipped cream. That thing better come with a t-shirt, with a price tag like that.

"We have the car, we have the bank statement to prove he has funds..." Rui murmured, checking things off on a list. Seth thought back to the one he had made, still tucked into his coat pocket, the rumpled and dingy piece of paper that pointed out the conditions that he'd tried so hard to fulfill on his own, pride being his greatest barrier to completing the list.

There was still something he had to get, on his own, in order to make everything work.

"You've got the house in Phenac." Silver added thoughtfully, stirring her latte before taking another sip.

"All that's left is to get Seth a job." Flannery pointed out, "How hard could that be?" Rui tapped at the bank statement again, shaking her head.

"Don't need one now. With this much money, Seth won't have to work a day; the account is compounding interest." she pointed out, "The bank can send that to us each month and we can live very well off of it. That leaves the rest of the money for helping Orre, like he wanted to do." She blinked when Seth stood up from the table. "Hm? Seth? Where are you going?" she asked worriedly, "Is something wrong?" He managed to pull up a grin, hands in his pockets as he leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"There's something I need to take care of on my own. Don't worry, Rui, I'll come back." he murmured, "Trust in me." She blinked, then smiled warmly at the Snagger.

"I do. Take care." she returned, and watched as the Snagger gestured to the twin Eons, Jupiter and Pluto falling into step beside him. Together, they headed out of the café and on down the street. The other girls watched as well, confused at first before Silver jerked slightly, mouth dropping open in realization.

"Oh, wow. I get it." she mumbled and smiled broadly, "Ah, this is gonna be the best!" Flannery and Leaf still looked lost and the older girl only waved a hand dismissively, laughing.

* * *

Walking down the street with the twins by him, Seth made no abrupt reaction to having Red slip into place beside him from an alley, simply glanced aside to acknowledge his presence. The mercenary had gone from his dark and heavy clothing to a more light and public-friendly outfit, a blue and white vest over a black shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes, with a new ball cap to protect his hair from Pikachu's little paws as the Pokémon perched on his shoulders to look around himself.

"How are things going?" Red asked mildly and Seth snorted slightly.

"The last couple of hours is just a blur. They've got me suits to wear and I think there's a brand new desert rover being shipped to Phenac in my name." he retorted and rolled his shoulders as though trying to get comfortable in his own clothing, "All this money, geh! It doesn't feel right on me; I'm not like these people!"

"It's just to appease Rui's parents." the older man reminded him, "Speaking of which, I heard you need a job as part of the conditions?" Seth nodded.

"Rui says it won't be necessary, thanks to the money in my account." he returned, "But I'd still prefer an honest job, if only to keep my temptation to steal properly under control."

Red hummed in a neutral tone, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him, just also acknowledging Seth's admission of his own fault. They walked together in silence, heading for the jewelry shops that had been the cluster the Snagger had broken into in his initial ring hunt. Finally, the older man spoke again.

"Have you heard of the Pokémon Laboratory being built in the desert?" he asked. The Snagger shook his head and Red went on. "They're conducting research here, which will be moved to that lab, to investigate the Shadow Pokémon and the Snag Machine properties, although they don't know exactly that those are the things they are researching. All they know is that some foreign energy is able to overwrite the energy field of a trained Pokémon and reassign it, and later that same Pokémon would come back with an entirely different personality and mental status." Seth looked up at the older man with a startled expression.

"They're looking into that? If they recreate the processes used to make them...!" he protested and Red shook his head.

"They're trying to understand what happened so they can create preventive measures against the Snag Machine and the Shadow Machine." he explained, "But without something to show them how it's done, or rather someone who understands the processes better than anyone..." He left his sentence hanging, gazing at the teen meaningfully. Seth stared back, halting his progress as he turned it all over in his mind and came to the conclusion Red was hinting at.

"Me? You want me to help a bunch of scientists understand the Snag Machine and Shadow Pokémon? So they can do what; make Poké Balls immune to them?" he asked incredulously.

"It would be considered a job and you can just conference with them by phone if you wish." Red pointed out simply, "Think of it this way, you'll be helping to protect the Pokémon of Orre by negating the things Ein and your father created." Seth grimaced, a visible shudder of revulsion coursing through him at the mention of the portly leader of Cipher.

"Don't say that Garik Evice is my father; I still don't like him, even past his death." he muttered, then sighed, "Well, if it helps Orre, I suppose I could give them the information I have on the Snag Machine. But only the original, not the Alpha. I still need to maintain my ability to snag Pokémon just in case anything goes wrong." Red smirked at him.

"Anything you say, Your Highness." he returned and laughed at the scowl on Seth's face.

"I'm never going to get away from that, am I?" the young man complained, "It's stuck to me forever, isn't it? From now on, everyone's gonna be calling me Prince; what the hell did Wes get me into?" Red only gave him a pat on the shoulder and they continued on to the shops.

* * *

It took them an hour, but despite his best efforts, Seth just couldn't find the simple diamond ring he longed for, and the gaudy and ornate rings on display were making him twitch. He did manage to find something else that he couldn't resist getting for Rui, a teardrop shaped diamond that hung from a thin silver chain. The necklace seemed to draw him in, touching off on some memory that made him shiver but also filled him with warmth. It reminded him of the redhead, but he wasn't sure why, until Red leaned close and murmured four short words.

"Let the rain fall."

The necklace was purchased and set into a black velvet case, wrapped with a ribbon, all in the space of a few eye blinks. The jeweler waved cheerfully as Seth and Red left the shop, the Snagger staring down at the box with an unreadable expression.

"I get the feeling that this was unavoidable." Seth finally managed to say, then slid the box into his pocket, "But I haven't been able to find a ring. I can't exactly propose without one." Red nodded slowly, tapping a fingertip against his nose as he thought it over carefully.

"Well," he murmured, "you're the Prince of the Desert now, right?" The Snagger gave him a mild glare and Red only smiled back at him, an enigmatic grin. "Why not ask Orre to provide you with a ring?" he suggested, gesturing out towards the sands beyond the city limits. Seth followed the sweep of his hand and flinched slightly.

"Mostly because, with the way things are going today, I'm afraid Orre's gonna do something to make me wanna crawl under a rock and stay there." he sighed, shoulders drooping almost comically at the dooming thoughts racing through his mind, "It'd be icing on the cake if it spits out some hunk of rock bigger than my head to put on Rui's finger." He pointedly ignored Red's sudden bellowing laughter.

* * *

It wasn't much longer before Seth, the Eons, and Red found themselves standing in the desert, the Snagger looking somewhat apprehensive about the whole affair. Pyrite was a mining town built up because of the deposit of ores and gems that was discovered, a deposit that was long dried up in the local area and caused dig tunnels to sprawl out underground. Were there other gem deposits in the desert that were undiscovered? And would the desert really cough up something that would suit his tastes and provide the perfect gem for Rui?

"I have Groudon's DNA so I have power over the earth." Seth muttered, "I can sense the various layers of the desert, so this shouldn't be a problem, right?" He took a deep breath, reached for the part of him that wasn't truly human and sought to 'commune' with the Orre desert. _"Please. Show me, tell me... if there is a diamond of Orre fit for Rui's ring, please, may I have it to show my love for her and connect her with you through me?"_ he pleaded mentally.

Red watched the Snagger lift a hand to the desert, gesturing in a slow sweep as though to brush aside the image before him. The land shuddered, and both men could feel the energies of the earth move beneath them, rippling upward and forcing them both to try to steady themselves. Jupiter and Pluto hopped in rhythm to ride out the shaking, yelping in excitement. Seth found it bizarre and oddly frightening to see the sands moving like water, rippling outward from a single point and 'splashing' upwards from great force. He tried to step back, only to find Red's open palm pressed against his back.

"Keep watching. Remember, this is your power at work." the older man told him, "You can't put off utilizing it all any longer." Seth only sighed, shaking his head.

"This isn't something I'm going to get used to right away." he pointed out dryly, "But this is for the sake of Orre, so I suppose there's no use just trying to ignore the parts of being a Pokémon that I don't like."

Nothing more was said as the earth finally pushed up the desert's offering to the Snagger, a pale golden-colored gem caked with stone and grime. Seth stared at it, astonished by the little chunk of rock that the calming sands had just produce for him. He knelt, carefully picking it up with nearly trembling fingers, and stood to let the gem catch the sunlight, sparkling through the stone and sand that still clung to it.

"Well, whaddya know?" Red murmured, somewhat impressed tone tainting his voice, "A Desert Diamond. Wasn't Pyrite founded in search of those? I don't think they've ever found one that size before." He waited a moment, then nudged the Snagger with an elbow. "Okay, you can stop staring at it. Go get it cleaned up and set into a ring." he encouraged, "I want to know how the proposal goes before I dump what's left of Mr. Seuser in the middle of the Viridian Forest." Seth blinked, brought back to awareness by those words.

"What? You're just _leaving_ him out there? You're setting him free after all he did?" the Snagger exclaimed in sudden hot fury. What the hell kind of justice was that for the emotional torture the man had put him and Rui through for the better part of the week? Red only gave him a flat glare.

"You broke his mind, Seth. I'm going to have to keep him in the old Rocket cells until the Jennys and I can finish ransacking his base of operations for some evidence to use against him." he pointed out, "You kinda made my mission to put the man in jail a little harder." Seth winced.

"Ouch. Sorry." he apologized and the older man waved it off.

"I'll deal. You have a ring to grab." Red answered and pat the Snagger on the back with a grin, "Now let's join up with the girls, check into that swanky hotel Silver's been eyeing ever since we got in here, and get you all prince'd up for a meeting with the Roanes." He laughed at the wide-eyed look on Seth's face.

"Geh! And just when I finally forgot about that!" the teen groaned.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: This chapter has been brutal to me, and yet seeing it here now, it doesn't look like it's as long as I thought it was. It certainly felt much longer to write. On top of that I keep tweaking it, adding on things, changing dialogue, and somehow, I still feel a bit let down by my own words. Maybe because I know it's over now? Oh well. Hopefully it's better for you than for me.

Anyway, this brings a close to my Pokemon fanfiction series, though I still plan on throwing a few tidbits towards A Chance Meeting every now and then. But for full on stories? I think it's time to set it down. It's been fun, though, and frustrating at times, but mostly fun. Till then, enjoy all the great fanfics that are written by other wonderful authors too!

* * *

Ch 15

Rui fiddled with the napkin on the table as she waited for her parents to finish ordering dinner. The Dragonair Elitist restaurant was one of the most chic and pricey restaurants in Zirconia City, a place to go to really show prospective marriage and business matches that one had the cash to spend on them. It was often a deal-maker to meet and eat there, so the place enjoyed great reviews and constant business. The Roanes were there to 'cheer Rui up', after they listened to a heavily revised and planned out version of events that happened with her on Chronos Island.

As far as they knew, Apolo had charmed them into letting Rui out of their sight, where he then kidnapped her from Orre while drugged and proceeded to add her to his little harem of regional power girls. Flannery, Leaf and Silver each added their piece of testimony to back that claim. Seth had gone after her once Silver's fiancé alerted him to the kidnappings and, upon arriving at Chronos Island, was demanded a ransom in exchange for Rui's well-being. Through Rui, Apolo had learned of Seth's secret, a secret that was hidden to keep him safe until the day he could come forward and make his claim and be safe from the rest of his estranged family.

"Likely story. I believe you once said he was an orphan, was raised by thugs and thieves for that ghastly corporation." her father mused aloud, scoffing at the notion as he pointed at a menu option to the waiter. Rui sighed, trying to keep her irritation to a minimum. She had dressed in her nicest clothes for the dinner, hoping to make a good impression for Seth, just to help him in the eyes of her parents.

"That was part of his cover story. Now that the corporation's gone, he's free to be who he really is." she returned and looked to the doorway again. Seth was taking an awful long time getting here. The idea for a dinner meeting to reveal how he met her parents' conditions had been hers, and Seth just shrugged and went along with it. He had looked nervous but Rui wasn't sure why; she'd asked him and he would only shake his head and say he'd tell her later.

The girls and Red helped to get Seth made over for the dinner, pulling out suits and combs and all the accessories, dragging him kicking and fuming into the next room, and Red told her to go ahead of them. The Snagger would join them once he was ready, and the rest of them would take up places nearby in the restaurant -Red was paying- just in case she needed some support and to keep an eye on Seth. Last thing anyone wanted was for something to go sour and have him do something he'd regret later.

Though during that makeover Flannery had whispered to Rui, with a wink, that she was hoping he'd jump up and run off with her to elope, as that would be utterly romantic and perfect. Rui liked her new friend, but eloping like that would be fun only for a while; they still had to worry about Seth's long-term relationship with her parents and people in general. Orre still seemed a little skittish around the concept of a Snagger running free.

"I suppose we'll be paying for his meal then? Assuming he makes it past the _maitre d'_, of course." Mrs. Roane murmured archly and Rui gave her mother an affronted glare. How dare she say things like that, especially after everything Seth went through, after all **she** went through, to have everything arranged so they could finally be together?

She was just about to tell her parents off about the whole thing -that eloping idea was sounding so very tempting now- when a hand dropped on her shoulder to still her. Rui froze, feeling that against her skin; a roughened palm, the hand of someone who had a hard life. She relaxed, letting a smile grow on her face. He had come, he had made it.

"Actually, **I'll** be paying for **your** dinner." Seth returned in a carefully coached dark purr. Rui quelled a little shiver at that. Ooh, when did he learn to do _that_? Red must have taught him; she could completely see Red teaching Seth to exude dark, rich, handsome mystique, drilling charm into that stubborn Snagger brain for this night. Speaking of Red, was he here now? With Flannery and Leaf and Silver? Were they watching? She turned her head to look for them, but instead found her eyes drawn to Seth.

He was dressed in one of the suits she'd picked out for him, a deep blue so dark it was almost black, with a paler blue dress shirt underneath. The Snag Machine kept its place on his arm as always, glinting in the candlelight and blending with the suit. It looked like it belonged on Seth, even in the clothes of a socialite. His hair was still spiky -Rui could imagine the amount of fighting and threats he must have put up to keep his hairstyle the way he liked it- but he traded in his favored silver visor for a pair of aviator glasses, similar to the ones Wes had worn the night before his death, captured in a photo that Rui had seen almost an eternity ago. No white strip of zinc oxide painted his face, which did look a bit odd for him, but Rui could forgive him for that because he just looked stunning overall.

Her parents were quiet, sizing him up and appraising him warily. This was a new development. The clothes had the marks of good money, he had made it to the table without any fuss at all from the staff... Was this a scam, putting on airs just to get them to let their precious daughter marry a con man?

Seth took a seat by Rui, giving her a small smile -encouraging, but still somewhat nervous- before holding up a hand to signal a waiter. There was a brief moment where Seth seemed to freeze up at the entrées, or maybe at their prices, then he took a calming breath before pointing at one dish to make his choice. The waiter nodded, noted it quickly, then hurried off with the menu.

"This is... unexpected." Mr. Roane remarked, watching the teen sitting by Rui with barely veiled derision, "But I suppose you invited yourself to our dinner to make some remark. Perhaps to corroborate this ridiculous story of you hiding some fantasy secret that would make you ideal to pay a ransom on **our** daughter..."

"I came to relay the news of my efforts." Seth told him firmly, eyes narrowing at the subtle jab. He gave Rui another quick smile, and she was beginning to think that it was more for the sight of her to reassure him than the other way around. Poor Seth. He turned back to the adults and gave them his usual impassive glare. "The fact is, Rui was right about me hiding something from you." the Snagger admitted, "Since everyone else in this city seems to know the name, I'm going to assume you know it too." He rubbed a fingertip over the forearm covering of the Snag Machine before continuing. "Rui has only ever called me Seth after finally getting some name confusion sorted out. That was mostly my fault." he told the Roanes in a neutral tone, "My full name is Seth Evice. The rest of my family had me sent away to be raised as a thief and a Snagger." He shrugged carelessly, "I think they were trying to use me in some lame world domination plot."

"Evice... that name _does_ strike a chord." Mrs. Roane murmured, eyebrows furrowing together as the waiter brought their meals to them.

"Ah, the Prince of the Desert?" the waiter exclaimed brightly, picking up on that and little else, "Oh my gosh, the whole city's been talking about him!" Seth's face blanched and Rui quickly reached over to grab his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as she plastered on a fake little smile of obliviousness. Her parents stared at the waiter, dumbfounded.

"They... have?" Rui's father questioned hollowly. Her mother seemed to have gone pale, one hand fluttering up to her throat delicately.

"P-prince? Of the Desert? You mean," she echoed and pointed vaguely over her shoulder, "this desert? Orre desert?" The waiter fanned himself, uttering a little romantic sigh.

"It's just the most magnificent thing! The last heir of Orre's corporate royalty finally came out of hiding and showed up **here** to claim his inheritance!" he gossiped on gleefully, "Just today! Heard it through the grapevine and," Here, the waiter bent to whisper almost conspiratorially to the four of them, "it seems he's worth quite the bundle, a-hem hmm! Last anyone saw of him, he'd been touring Zirconia with an illustrious entourage of lovely young ladies. Seems some families might have caught wind of his arrival and are trying to set up a match."

"A match?" Mrs. Roane nearly squawked, eyes wide and disbelieving. Her finger shot around, nearly clipped her husband's ear, and pointed directly at Seth, the Snagger freezing in place. "With _him_? Outrageous!" The waiter turned, as did several other dinner guests who couldn't help but overhear the whole incident, and all eyes fell on the silver-haired teen. Rui wanted to sink into her chair; she couldn't imagine how Seth must be feeling.

"Ho-Oh, help me." he moaned softly, hunching his shoulders in an attempt to hide. This was not going according to plan; he was just supposed to reintroduce himself, show them the bank statement and a document proving his true identity, then the Roanes would roll over in shock and while they were still reeling, he would scoop up Rui and bolt for the door. Well, the _last_ part was his plan; everyone else told him to just propose on the spot while they were stunned by the papers.

"It **is** him!" a woman exclaimed in surprise, "Marielle! Go and introduce yourself!"

"Ah! Ah! The Prince of the Desert! Mummy, the match with Heath isn't final, is it? I might have a chance!"

"Why do I get the oddest feeling that I've been through this before?" Seth mumbled under his breath as Rui shot glares all around her in an attempt to intimidate the other girls now making their way over to the table.

"It's not a scam..." Mr. Roane only said in a tiny and shocked voice, looking around himself before finally settling his eyes on Seth, "It really isn't, is it? I just saw the McDylans send their twin daughters this way."

"Who **wouldn't**?" the waiter gasped, clasping his hands together girlishly, "He's royalty! And he's sitting with you and look how he and little Ms. Roane are holding hands, aren't they darling? You certainly have a head-start on setting up a match!"

"I'm starting a new terraforming project to take over the job Cipher had promised to complete when the Evices first started." Seth managed to say quickly, watching the other girls waver at Rui's glare before steeling themselves and marching for the table again, "My inheritance is going to finish what my family originally wanted for Orre; the revival of our forests." He glanced at the redhead by him, then turned a determined expression on the Roanes. "And I love Rui with all my heart. It was she who rescued me from following the dark path my father and sister took, and I would give anything to have her at my side while I have Orre terraformed." Rui's parents gave him matching wide-eyed looks, dumbfounded by the circle of girls closing in on the table.

He chose that moment to pull the statement from his coat pocket, unfold it, and lay it on the table before them, watching as their eyes dropped quickly to take in the numbers and totals.

"My God..." Mr. Roane whispered numbly, reaching out to touch the paper gingerly, as if it were going to leap up and attach itself to his face, "That's more money than even **we** possess."

"I have here a document from the mayor of Phenac, detailing my ownership of a house there," Seth went on, pulling another paper out to set beside the statement, "and the title to a desert rover that was bought just today for Rui," another paper joined the growing pile, "and a document on the Pokémon Research Laboratory's intentions of studying the Shadow Pokémon process, of which I'm an active expert on, so I'll be working with them as part of my career." The last paper settled into place and Seth felt much better for having all that off of his shoulders now. He grinned; the two of them just kept gaping at the papers, faces turning more pale with each one he set down.

"He's fulfilled all the requirements for courtship you put on him." Rui added coldly, that little smile growing on her face that appeared only a few times before, back when she took Seth's place as a Snagger, and again in the stand-off against Apolo. "Seth is a proper suitor by your rules now. You can't stop him from dating me." The Snagger shifted in place, hand dipping into his pocket at those words.

"Actually, that's not entirely true." he murmured and brought out the little ring he'd had fashioned to hold the now cut Desert Diamond. Just the sight of it had the encroaching circle of girls cry out in dismay, the sound drawing the Roanes' attention to the ring in Seth's hand. Rui's face turned red, eyes wide with disbelief and then sheer joy as her smile grew more warm and elated. The Snagger gave her a small grin, almost shy but just as warm and heartfelt. "Rui, the day I saved you from those Cipher goons in Phenac, I had no idea how far we'd come together. No idea that you would wind up being the one saving me from so much more." he murmured, weaving his fingers through hers and gripping her hand gently, "Whatever happened, whatever traps were set before us, all I needed to know to push through and keep fighting was that you would be at my side at the end of the day, even when I didn't realize that's why I fought at all."

Rui dared a glance at her parents; what were they thinking of this new turn of events? They stared at Seth with a strange new wonder on their faces, as though finally seeing him the way she did, hearing in his words his true intentions. Her mother managed a tiny, tremulous smile, eyes softening, and her father wrapped an arm around her shoulders, watching them in silence. Not far from them, Red, Leaf, Flannery and Silver all gave thumb's-ups in encouragement.

"So, Rui, I'm asking you, not as a Snagger, not as the Prince of the Desert, not as the Weather's Master," Seth went on, opening himself up to his most vulnerable just for her and Rui nearly cried at how much trust and love he was placing in her for this, "but as a once-lost man you led back to the right path...

"Will you marry me?"

The restaurant erupted into a mix of cheers and wails as Rui launched herself at Seth, laughing and exclaiming 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' as loudly as she could, hugging him tight and smiling widely at his own laughter and return embrace. Her parents beamed, finally swayed by the display of emotions before them and nodded in eager approval. By the time the waiter finally got over himself enough to set their meals down on the table before them, Rui and Seth were back in their seats, foreheads touching and eyes only on each other, the Desert Diamond shimmering beautifully on Rui's finger.

* * *

The next few months were a whirlwind of wedding plans and deal-making, which had Seth looking almost shell-shocked at times. Rui and her mother and the high-society ladies of Zirconia City handled just about everything to do with the wedding, with Seth making only the single demand that it take place in Agate Village. Only Rui understood why he wanted it there; Agate Village had been the scene of some harsh memories for the two of them, from the first time Seth attacked Rui reflexively to the tragic moments of his death before the Relic Stone, just before Celebi restored him to life. A happy and momentous occasion like a wedding would wipe them clean and bring new memories in their place.

In the meantime, while the planners and designers went on with Rui, the Snagger found himself seeking Mr. Roane's help in choosing a company best suited for picking up the task of terraforming Orre. The elder man raised an eyebrow at the request but went along with the search, finding himself nodding in approval as Seth scrutinized every company that placed a bid for the task, bringing forth an unwavering intimidation factor that weeded out the more unscrupulous ones until he finally settled on the Terra Corporation.

It was a new company, young and eager to prove itself to Orre and the only survivor of the Evice Family, and it stood fast under Seth's golden-eyed glare to earn his respect and win the contract. Satisfied with his choice, Seth turned his attention to his Pokémon, spending much needed time restoring them all to full health. They'd suffered silently and without complaint because of the financial strain, less food, few healing items, long periods of time with status effects or injury; the Snagger couldn't forgive himself of it all until he was sure that all his Pokémon, from his loyal pair of Eons to the reformed Shadow Pokémon he rescued, were at the top of their game once more.

When the date was decided for the wedding, invitations were sent out to all the people who mattered. The Kids' Grid, Red and Silver, Leaf and her brother, Flannery, May and Brendan, friends who had helped through so many battles against Cipher and in the investigation against Apolo; they were all sent heartfelt invitations and were replied with eager anticipation.

Agate Village was soon flooded with droves of attendees, the elderly citizens welcoming the youthful visitors with cheer as they helped with decorating for the main event. Pokémon flitted and bustled all over, helping out where they could. And during it all, Rui and Seth were kept separated as per the tradition of not letting the groom see the bride in her dress before the wedding.

"It's a stupid tradition." the Snagger muttered halfheartedly, leaning against a tree as he watched the Relic Stone be carefully cleaned. It was going to be the altar where he and Rui would be married, and Beluh had taken a few of her friends to the task of sweeping the leaves from around it and dusting it off as best they could. In the shadows beside him, Red mirrored his pose, his eyes closed and a content smile on his face as Pikachu remained perched on his shoulder.

"Let the women have their way. A wedding is an event that only comes once, so they tend to go Primeape-shit crazy over it." the older man quipped, "I'm half looking forward to the day Silver does the same for our own wedding." He opened one eye lazily to glance over at the Snagger. "Do you have a tuxedo? Or do you plan on getting married in the clothes you have on?" he asked. Seth grimaced at the question.

"Rui's father took me to one of the fancy tux places in Zirconia so I could get stuffed into one." he grumbled sourly, "So, yes. I've got a tuxedo. By the fires of Ho-Oh, please tell me I only have to wear it that one time." Red gave a half-shrug in response and Seth sighed in resignation. "I suppose burying it in the desert after this isn't going to happen either."

Red just laughed.

.

It was a clear spring day. People for years afterward would say they saw Ho-Oh fly over Agate Village as Seth and Rui exchanged vows before the Relic Stone, their friends and family watching on with joy and pride. Nearby, Red looked out over the crowd with a firm gaze, as if daring anyone to rise and protest the union. Seth had named him best man and the mercenary took his duty seriously, even with Pikachu still perched on his shoulders, looking over his head with a tiny black tie around his neck. The other groomsmen, Brendan and Nett, looked a little uncomfortable in their tuxedos but grinned at the newly wedded couple. Rui's maid of honor, Silver, looked happy for them, finally appearing true to herself as a girl in the pale green dress she and the other bridesmaids wore. May, Flannery and Leaf clutched their tiny bouquets tightly, beaming so brightly they may as well have tried to outshine the bride. Pokémon took seats in the trees and on stones, adding their cries to the cheers of the people when the Desert Prince kissed his Desert Princess.

They ran out of the forest, laughing, followed by the crowd that tossed flower petals and confetti and rice into the air after them. Seth grinned broadly, teeth bared as he held Rui's hand and led her up the path to the center of the village, the redhead hoisting her beautiful white gown up to keep from tripping on it and her train. Once there, surrounded by cheering villagers and decorations on the houses, colorful fireworks bursting in the sky and balloons being released, he turned and lifted her into the air, spinning her around with a laugh.

"We did it, Rui!" he exclaimed, setting her back onto her feet, "Cipher's gone, I'm free of them all, and the two of us are married! We're together forever!"

"Now you're starting to sound like me!" Rui teased happily, face flushed with excitement and joy. Her hair had been lifted into a tight bun on her head, strands of hair framing her face. She looked like a genuine princess, her dress flowing and full and shimmering with tiny gems. Her eyes sparkled and Seth couldn't help but to kiss her again, savoring the feel of her lips against his, his hands holding her waist and pulling her close.

"If it means no one can ever take you from me, I'll skip and prance around like the twins over there." he growled playfully and glanced over at the Eons. Jupiter and Pluto were both wearing little black bow ties, dancing about wildly and yipping happily, the females Neptune and Saturn leaping about with them, their tiny white veils flying behind them.

A stage had been built to put them both on display while accepting their wedding gifts, and Seth tugged Rui towards it while dropping another kiss onto her upturned mouth. They took their seats, smiling at one another as a line of their friends and family began moving up the steps to present them with wrapped gifts.

"That reminds me." Seth murmured thoughtfully and reached into the pocket of his tuxedo, "I have something for you. I saw it in a jewelry store and for some reason I thought of you and that day in Indigo Stadium, when I stopped that storm and nearly let it end me." He pulled out the necklace with its raindrop pendant and held it up to her. Rui's eyes widened at the sparkling jewel and she cooed in delight before blinking, recalling that day herself.

"You mean, when you disappeared and all the legendary Pokémon had declared you to be the Weather's Master?" she asked him, eyes tearing a little, "I was so scared for you back then, Seth. I didn't know if you would come back to me." She smiled a little, shakily. "And that's when I called out to you. I told you to let the rain fall, and you came back. It took a while, but you came back to me." He nodded and carefully clasped the necklace around her neck, touching his forehead to hers and smiling.

"I did, because you had the strength to find me again, just like when you rescued me from Sera in the Pokémon Laboratory." Seth agreed softly, "Rui, I don't know if I could have survived as long as I have if I had never met you, but I can say this. Even if I could have, even if I could have chosen to just look the other way in Phenac and let Trudly and Folly take you to Evice, I would only be surviving." He ran the back of his fingers along her cheek, smiling as she leaned into the touch. "With you, I'm _living_."

"And now we'll be living together." Rui murmured with a smile, "I'm so happy, Seth. Everything's perfect. The future is ours. We're free of Cipher." Her smile grew wider as she stood up, pulling Seth to his feet with a laugh and leading him to greet May and Brendan, the first of many well-wishers bearing gifts and smiles for them.

"Now come on and let's finish the wedding reception!" Rui declared brightly, winking up at him, "I want to get on to the honeymoon!"

* * *

While Seth and Rui celebrated their union in Agate Village, on the distant Citadark Isle a trio of men gazed upon the foundation of their fortress with smiles. One of them, the leader by the way he held himself, pat his hands almost affectionately on the cases of the two hard disks he'd acquired. The black disks bore the logo of the Cipher Corporation, a logo and name that they decided to take on themselves.

Already they had scientists working on improving the methods of the Shadow process, and they were confident that they could succeed where the first Cipher had failed. They had their sights set on a Pokémon to be their ultimate weapon once the process was enhanced.

They planned to call it... XD001.

The End


End file.
